Impossible
by Astoria Potter
Summary: Sequel to "Hazy." Finnick thought that Annie was dead. He'd watched her die, after all. But that was the question, wasn't it? Was she really? Finnick/Annie.
1. Part I: Why We Fight

Story: "Impossible"

Author: Astoria Potter

Total Word Count: ?,?

Chapters: 1/?

Beta: Mars

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made. I just happen to like _The Hunger Games_.

Summary: He had watched her die before his very eyes, had held her as she took her last breath. So how was it possible that she was standing here in front of him, very much alive? Finnick/Annie.

Pairing(s): Finnick/Annie, Peeta/Katniss, Gale/Madge, Haymitch/Maysilee

Rating: TV-14/PG-15/NC-16 (Violence, [multiple] deaths, depression, brief and mild language, et al)

Spoilers: All the way through "Catching Fire."

A/N: This was originally intended as a sequel to _Hazy_, but as I don't believe that it really fits with _Hazy_, it can either be read as a sequel to that story or a standalone. It is the reader's choice, really. However, I must say that if you are expecting this to be like _Hazy_, it is written in a different format, with a lot more dialogue. There are some elements in here that are taken from the canon of _Hazy_, so that should be noted as well. Thank you to everyone who read _Hazy _and gave me their wonderful feedback, and especially to my friend Lily () for listening to me tell her all about this story email after email after email when it was nothing more than a very long outline and even before that.

Credit goes to electrumqueen's This Little Universe Between Our Backs (which is a short but amazingly well-done Finnick/Annie drabble; you should read it ASAP if you haven't done so already) for the idea throughout this fic from which Finnick and Annie talk about a star.

"You whom I could not save

Listen to me."

—Czeslaw Milosz, "Dedication"

Part I: Why We Fight

_It's dark outside now, outside of this tent. If you step outside you can see the stars twinkling in the night sky and feel the moonlight kiss your face as you close your eyes and - what's that? A story, you ask? Very well, let me begin. Hush, now. Gather 'round the lamplight. Closer, all of you. Closer. _

_There is a story that they tell, over and over again to pass the time as people listen in rapture: parents to their children as they fall asleep, women to men as they sigh whimsically, friend to friend. It is a tale that will always be remembered in our land as long as our people live on and pass it down to their children and those who will listen, one that is as famous as that of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Oh, you're nodding now, I see. You what? Indeed. _

_This is the story of my father and the woman that he loved, a love that has perhaps made him more immortal than all of the other things that he's infamous for. It's a love story, but not exactly a happy one. Hush, now. Listen to me speak... _

When the war is over and seemingly done with, they're often asked why they fought. Everyone has their own intentions, and they all know the true reasons, deep down inside. But of course, it's always much more interesting to hear it come from the mouths of the heroes, those Tributes who fought so hard and led the Rebellion with their all and risked their lives.

"I hate this," Katniss muttered under her breath one afternoon as she sat with Finnick, who was staring out into the distance and looked as though he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her.

"That's what war is," he responded in a nonchalant voice, not taking his bloodshot eyes off of whatever it was that he saw in the seemingly endless space in front of him. They were sitting on a bench that was just past the safety gate, which everyone had advised them against doing, but that didn't stop them from taking up with this daily.

"What's what?" She leaned back against the firm wall of the gate and pressed her back against it, feeling the coldness and hardness, smelling the cold iron in the air.

"War," he repeated, not blinking once. "Fifty percent of the time, it's sitting around waiting for shit to happen, and the other fifty percent is your basic fighting and killing, complete with guts and gore."

"Is it?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Indeed," he replied nonchalantly.

"Fifty percent?" she inquired quizzically. "I'd say it's more boredom and less fighting."

"Give and take a little bit," he shrugged.

She smiled at him, and then it disappeared just as quickly as it had come as she repeated herself once more. "I hate waiting."

"We all want to fight." He finally turned to look at her and leaned back against the cold iron gate. He let out a bored sigh, as though he were a very patient teacher explaining to an uncomprehending student. "It's basic human instinct."

Ah, basic human instinct. Was that why they fought? No matter how much one might deny it, there was always that primal and very human urge to lash out and take out one's frustrations on others.

"Well, it's your lucky day," said a voice from the side door that had just opened.

Neither of them turned to see who it was that was walking towards them. Too many times there had been false alarms of hope, and the bearer of this message had better know what they were doing. It wasn't a very wise thing to do - facing the combined forces of a very pissed off Katniss Everdeen, who was all the more lethal with an equally or even more enraged Finnick Odair by her side.

The footsteps edged even closer and became strangely loud. They were so used to silence out here that anything other than the occasional tidbit of conversation was foreign. "Hey." The familiar figure stopped in front of them.

"Gale?" they chorused together. Although Katniss's voice held a slight tinge of shock, Finnick's voice, as it usually was nowadays, sounded dead. There were very few things that could make him change that tone of voice these days. Perhaps that was what Finnick was doing to her, Katniss mused, or perhaps it was being friends with someone who had shared the same loss as she had that was slowly turning her into a complex individual that eerily resembled Finnick Odair.

"Do you two want to come in?" Gale questioned, not concealing the worry in his eyes as he looked at the two of them. They were both looking more and more lifeless with each passing day. Katniss still looked comparably healthy, but the moment that you looked into her eyes, that was where you could see that the light had gone out. Dead eyes.

Finnick was definitely the worse for wear. Although Katniss still got her full dose of sleep, Finnick was the one that never slept, and one could see that instantly by his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles underneath them. "Depends on your reason for us going in," Finnick replied, his voice apathetic.

"Haymitch told me to tell you that you're welcome to join our raid on the Capitol."

Finnick stared at him. "And he made you his little messenger?"

Gale blinked, but appeared to be unfazed by this insult. "Is there a problem?"

Finnick shrugged. "You just didn't strike me as an errand boy."

Katniss elbowed him, hard. "Finnick," she hissed. "Watch it."

"Ow," Finnick said, but his voice held no conviction even as he gave her a grim smile. He turned his gaze back to Gale as he stood up. "Well?"

Gale laughed, a low, tired sound. "I don't think you've noticed how short the list of people who like to come out here and fetch you two is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finnick frowned, even though he already knew the answer. He and Katniss were the two most miserable people in the compound and quite possibly the entirety of District 13. Everyone had been surprised when they'd started to sit outside together past the security of the safety gate, but it wasn't as though anyone was fool enough to go out there and join them or ask them to move away. One look at them while they sat together out there, and no matter how wonderful and happy a day you were having, it was instantly ruined by the dead, somber look in their faces, the stillness of their bodies.

They headed inside, past the safety gate and into the compound that buzzed with the fervor of busy noise, so loud that they could barely hear their own footsteps. Gale had to shout to be heard over the din. "We're leaving in two hours, but Haymitch wants you to meet him for the debriefing first."

Katniss nodded in response, while Finnick simply pursed his lips into a grim line. They were led to the familiar, brightly lit meeting room, a room that the two of them had long since stopped going to. What was the purpose of going to meetings when you knew that what you wanted could not be achieved? There were too many fruitless attempts by the both of them to persuade Haymitch and the rest of the people in charge of how important it was that they had a raid against the Capitol. Sure, there had been raids. But not the ones that they wanted - not the ones with the purpose of extracting the captives, those two people that they wanted more than anything to see again. So instead of having to be told "no" time and time again, Finnick and Katniss had taken to sitting outside and being the two most depressed people in the compound.

"About time," Haymitch said as he set down a report that he had been busy reading before they had entered. Gale shut the door behind them as they went in and headed down the hallway, going on ahead to wherever it was that he was headed.

"I think we should be the ones saying that to you," Katniss said, unable to contain the fury from her voice as she glared murderously at him.

"All in good time," the older man sighed as he stared at the two young people who stood in front of him, unmoving. "All in good time."

"So where are we headed?" Finnick asked, taking a seat in one of the swivel chairs without being asked to sit down. He patted the seat next to him, and Katniss took her place beside him. It would be almost comical how they were so in sync if it the situation weren't so grim.

Haymitch gazed at them for a long minute before he finally opened his mouth. "The Capitol. The underground structures are our best bet right now."

Finnick, who had been making little circles on the incredibly cool table with his index finger, stopped moving. "And you're sure that they're there?"

"I'm not guaranteeing anything," Haymitch said slowly. "You have to understand that."

"Don't be an idiot," Katniss snapped irritably. She paused for a moment, and when she finally spoke again, her voice was much calmer. "Of course we do." But she knew that even though they both did know that, if they couldn't find who they were looking for, she and Finnick would be even closer to insanity than they already were.

Haymitch knew it as well. "Well then, that's all I have to say. We'll be leaving in two hours, but make sure you're outside and on-board the hovercraft within the hour."

"Oh, one last thing, Haymitch," Finnick said in a dangerously quiet voice as he stood up.

"What?" The older man had gone back to reading the report that had previously occupied his attention.

"If this raid doesn't have who we're looking for, then we _will_ be the first ones that you inform the next time you get news of their whereabouts and the next raid, am I understood?"

"Look, Finnick," Haymitch sighed and set down the report once more. "Sometimes we have to keep stuff like this from you, because you don't need to get your hopes up for nothing. It's really for the best-"

There was a blur of motion as Finnick took the few short steps between them and hurled Haymitch against the whiteboard on the wall, his right hand wrapped around his neck. "Am I understood?" Finnick asked in a menacing voice, his teeth drawn in an angry snarl.

"Finnick!" Katniss shouted, getting out of her seat. "Calm down!" She might agree with what he said, but she wasn't insane enough to go around making threats to the one person who could withhold necessary information from them. Not right now, anyway.

"You forget who I am, boy," Haymitch laughed, not the least bit alarmed. "You think I got where I am by giving in to every threat that was made to me? Take my advice and at least try to think as if you're in my shoes for five seconds."

"For five seconds?" Finnick said, his outraged voice getting louder by the second. "For five seconds?"

"Finnick," Katniss said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Let's go."

There was an edge of hysteria in Finnick's voice as he held up his left hand and counted down with his fingers. His thumb went down, and he glared murderously at Haymitch, who was staring at him with an expression that conveyed that he was more amused than ever. "Your point of view," his second finger went down, and the third one was rapidly following suite, "is so despicable," his fourth finger had taken its place with the three others, and the fifth one was already descending, "that I'm surprised you can live with yourself." He pulled back the now-closed fist of his left hand, and soundly punched Haymitch in the face. "There's the five seconds you asked for," he snapped, and then he strode out of the room, Katniss keeping pace with him as they walked through the complicated and intricate design of the many hallways of the compound to their respective rooms.

"Are you insane?" Katniss hissed at him as they walked briskly to their destination.

"What?" Finnick gave her a bored look as they turned a corner. "Don't tell me he didn't deserve that or that you didn't enjoy it."

Katniss made a face at him as she let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not that I disagree with you," she said in a careful voice as he pressed his finger onto a pad and let the machine scan his face. He nodded at her and moved aside for her to do the same, and then they both stepped back.

"Body recognition begun," Devon - that was what Finnick had nicknamed the computer voice - said as she (well, assuming that it was a she) scanned them from head to toe with her red laser, and then, after a moment, she spoke once more. "Authorization granted to Finnick Odair and Katniss Everdeen."

The door swung open, and Finnick gestured for Katniss to enter first before he went in. "Thanks, Devon," he said as the door swung shut behind him.

"Of course, Mr. Odair," Devon said as the two humans turned yet another corner.

"You were saying?" Finnick asked as Katniss opened the door to her room and they both stepped in.

She stared at him. "You don't have to get your stuff?"

He laughed, and spread out his hands in an amused gesture. "I have all that I require on me already."

Katniss rose her eyebrows. "You don't need to get Haymitch's blood off of your hand?"

He glanced down at his knuckles, then shrugged. "No."

"You should get some sleep," she said softly.

"No," he said in a clipped voice. "You know I can't."

"Finnick, you have to sleep," she insisted, their previous topic of conversation now forgotten.

He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes, but walked over to her bed and lay down in it nonetheless. His arms were crossed behind his head, and he watched her as she walked over to the end of the bed. His legs moved automatically to make room for her, and she sat down in the now-empty space, her legs crossed as she gave him a stern look.

"You're stubborn," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh?" He arched a single eyebrow.

"What do you think?" she sighed. "Look, just sleep. I'll wake you up if you start... you know."

"No," he said, his voice firm.

"Do you think you're helping Annie by not getting your sleep?" she asked. "You need to be alert, your-"

He interrupted her. "Reflexes need to be up, blah blah blah." He winked at her. "I know."

She shot him an annoyed look. "And how is any of that supposed to be at its best if you end up slumping down from exhaustion while we're doing the raid? Sleep."

He laughed, more amused than ever. "Katniss, stop mothering me. I won't be collapsing anytime soon."

"Really?" Her voice was skeptical.

He shrugged. "One injection of SFEA from the medical center and I'll be alert for the next thirty-six hours."

She frowned. "You know that too many of those aren't good for you, don't you?"

"Why, Katniss," he smiled, "I didn't know you were so concerned for my well-being."

"Of course I am," she snapped, angry at him now. "What would I do without your ever-irritating presence?"

"Ah, how you wound me." He put a dramatic hand over his heart.

She laughed despite herself. "Stop it." They sat there like that, laughing for a few minutes, before it finally quieted and Katniss spoke. "I'm serious, though."

"I know," he said.

"How many shots of SFEA are you taking?" she queried.

"Not a lot," he replied in a sleepy voice.

He was already drifting off, she could tell, so she wasn't going to push it, not when he was finally going to get some much-needed sleep. "How much is 'not a lot'?"

"Only one a week," he murmured before his head slumped to the side and his eyes shut, his breathing soon becoming soft and rhythmic.

"Not if I can help it," she said in a soft voice before she got off from the end of the bed and quietly gathered what she would need for the raid.

_There was nothing at first. Nothing. Just a black hole, an abyss. He was immobile. It would be better than what was to come, of course. It always was. And now, here it was. He was himself. He could move. Move his hands and legs and face, flex his fingers and blink. And now he found himself walking, making his way down a beach. _

_"Annie," he said in a soft voice as he saw a familiar-looking figure in the distance, a figure that he would recognize anywhere. "Annie!" he shouted as he hurried to her, breaking into a run. _

_She didn't glance up at him as he approached. She was squatting in the sand, her beautiful brown hair and periwinkle dress billowing out around her as the wind danced around them. _

_"Annie," he murmured once more as he took a seat in front of her. The ocean waves crashed in the distance, but he paid them no mind. Perhaps it was because he felt so safe in the water, but it had never scared him, not really. Not except for that one time that Annie looked as though she were going to thro__w__ herself in and never resurface. _

_She looked up, a frown on her beautiful face. There was a small, plastic shovel in her hand that was a bright, neon color. "Salty," she proclaimed matter-of-factly. _

_"What's salty?" he asked softly, giving her a smile. "What is it, Annie?" _

_"Suit," she laughed, smiling at him, her teeth beautiful pearls that gleamed brightly even on this sunless day. _

_"My suit is salty?" he inquired, and he looked down to see what he was wearing. Why the hell was he wearing a suit to the beach? _

_"No__.__" __S__he shook her head, still laughing. "Closer__.__" __S__he beckoned him with two fingers. _

_He edged closer to her as she put down the shovel, which had now turned a strangely bright orange color, into a plastic blue bucket already filled with sand. "What is it?" he whispered. _

_Her smile widened, and then she closed the distance between them by moving her face until there was almost no space left. They stared at each __other__ for a long moment, eyes searching, and then her lips met his. Finnick relaxed into the familiar feel of her, of the ocean breeze and sugar cubes and the summer sun and water that seemed to enter his mouth whenever he inhaled the scent of her. His fingers ran through her beautiful brown hair, which was already sprinkled with some ocean water. When she drew back rather abruptly, she was looking at him, her eyes wide as they both breathed heavily, and her fingers were touching her swollen lips. "You're salty," she said quietly, and then she smiled, a beautiful, heartbreaking smile. "Salty," she laughed, and then dumped the shovel and sand out of the blue bucket as she turned it upside down. _

_He smiled. "What are you doing?" _

_She looked at him for a long moment, and then she turned her face out to the ocean, which had somehow moved further away from them. "They're here," she said in a frightened voice. _

_"Who's here?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm. "Annie?" He put two fingers underneath her warm chin. _

_"Execution day," she said in a sing-song voice, but she did not look at him. _

_That sent cold shivers down his spine, but before he could speak, she got up rather abruptly and ran off towards the ocean, her nimble and bare feet faster than ever. "Annie!" he shouted as he ran after her. "Annie!" He had almost caught up with her when she disappeared into the ocean, the waves swallowing her up, and even as he swam in after her, he could no longer see her. "Annie!" he shouted as he spun around in every direction, turning his head and looking here and there, but even all of the distance that he seemed to cover revealed nothing. Several minutes passed, but he was not willing to give up this seemingly fruitless search for her. "Annie!" _

_The scene shifted now, and he was standing, soaking wet, on a platform, overlooking a solemn and eerie scene. A crowd was gathered, and everyone in it looked either confused or frightened or both. _

_"Today we condemn those who have dared to rebel against the loving Capitol. We bring them to justice," boomed a loud voice. President Snow. _

_A large door that hadn't been there a second ago suddenly opened, and a line of people were brought out. Annie, Peeta, Johanna, Enobaria, Annie's mother, and other faces that Finnick did not recognize. "Stop!" he shouted, but his voice seemed to go unheard. _

_"This is only the beginning," President Snow continued on, a terribly sadistic smile of glee on his face. "Let this be a lesson to those who dare to rebel against the might of the Capitol. Peacekeepers!" he barked. _

_A line of them appeared to emerge from thin air, and Finnick ran forward. "Stop this!" he shouted. _

_"Finnick Odair__.__" Snow looked amused. "Just the man we were looking for." _

_"What?" _

_"No matter__.__" __T__he President seemed to be having a conversation with himself. _

_"Run!" Finnick shouted at the prisoners. "What the hell are you all standing there for? _Run_!" _

_"No, Finnick__.__" Annie shook her head, and she was laughing. "We die." _

_The Peacekeepers had completely surrounded the prisoners from every angle now, forming a circle from which there was no escape. _

_"Kneel," Snow commanded. _

_"No," Peeta said resolutely. He turned to look at Annie, who was still laughing, and then he began to laugh as well. That seemed to have a domino effect on the rest of the prisoners, because soon enough, all of them were laughing, quite unable to stop, peals of the sound soon becoming incredibly loud. _

_"Very well," Snow said, as though bored, but the irritation showed on his face. _

_"Stop!" Finnick shouted, running towards the Peacekeepers, but he seemed to run _through _them. Through them?_ _What sort of-_

_"Prepare to fire!" __t__he President barked__._

_"Run, you stupid fools!" Finnick yelled as he stepped between the few feet that separated the Peacekeepers from the prisoners. These stupid, stupid fools. "Goddamit, _run_!" _

_Somehow, suddenly, he was standing in front of Annie. She gave him a serene smile. "Hello, Finnick," she said, as though they were having a pleasant conversation about the weather._

_"Run with me, Annie," he whispered, his fingers reaching out to trace the outline of her face. "Run." _

_"You'll need us for this, Finnick," she smiled, nodding at Peeta and the others, who were still laughing. "You all will." _

_He blinked. "What are you-" He stared at her, and he understood. "No!" he shouted as comprehension dawned. "No! Annie, _no_!" _

_"It's for the best, Finnick," she said as she reached out a hand to Peeta, who held it, and in turn, held Johanna's hand. Johanna's hand gripped Enobaria's, and the domino effect of the hand-h__o__lding, just like the laughter, took hold o__f__ the prisoners. _

_He was talking very quickly now. "Annie, you can't martyr yourself for-" _

_"That's not your choice to make, Finnick__.__" __S__he smiled at him, and her free hand reached up to touch his face. "Hmm," she said, puzzled. _

_"What?" he breathed out. "What is it?" _

_"I can't seem to touch you," she frowned. "That's odd. I think-" _

_"Fire!" Snow roared. _

_"No!" Finnick screamed as he closed the distance between him and Annie, wrapped his hands around her to protect her. Even as he did so, he went through her, and the artillery rounds went on and on. _

_"Fire!" Snow shouted again. "Fire however many times you want, whenever the hell you want!" _

_It was strange how the prisoners didn't seem to be dead yet, and even stranger still how blood splattered all over Finnick despite the fact that he couldn't touch a single thing. _

_"The stars, Finnick," Annie smiled at him. She was still holding Peeta's hand as they all crumpled to the floor, blood splattering all over the place, spraying the Peacekeepers and Finnick in the dark red color. The rest of them were still laughing, but her eyes were only for him before they darted up to look into the night sky. _

_"What?" __H__e stared at her. "What?" He seemed to be incapable of anything coherent. _

_"The Dioscuri, Finnick__.__" __S__he let out a happy sigh as she pointed to the stars. "I found them-" There was a loud gunshot that rang throughout the courtyard, and then the life seemed to go out of her as the bullet went into her side. "Just like... I promised you... Finnick," she breathed out slowly, blood suddenly running out of her mouth like a stream. "Do you remember?" __S__he smiled softly, and her eyes fluttered shut. _

_"No!" he screamed as he knelt beside her, trying to gather her into his arms. And suddenly, he could. He was solid. Her head was gathered in his lap, as warm and soft as ever, except for this time, blood was everywhere. "No! Annie! No, don't leave me, you can't, you know I can't-" _

_"Remember... me," she murmured, a smile on her face, and then she was still. _

_"I'll always remember you," he whispered, and then he let out an inhuman sound, full of grief and anguish and rage, full of helplessness and anger. "No!" he sobbed as he stared at her lifeless form. "No! Annie-"_

_"Wake up, Finnick!" a familiar voice shouted, interrupting his fit of grief. _

_What? Through his tears, he stared down the line of dead prisoners, but there was no one there who could possibly be shouting at him. It was eerie, though, not that they were holding hands, but how they were all smiling, eyes open, even in death. An act of defiance within itself. How could he ever-_

_"Goddamit, wake up!" __S__omeone was shaking him, hard, and then the hands seemed to disappear before the splash of water hit his face. "Wake up!" _

Finnick awoke, gasping as he sat up, ready to attack whoever it was that had been shaking him before he realized who exactly the form in front of him was. "Katniss?" he asked, his voice puzzled.

She bit her lip. "You okay?" she asked as she lowered her bottle of water, even though she already knew the answer to that question.

He didn't answer her, instead swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up quickly. "I thought you said you'd wake me up," he said in a quiet, dead voice.

Katniss sighed. "I was going to. It's just, you haven't been getting any sleep, and it didn't seem like anything was going on until you started-"

He shook his head. "Forget about it."

She gave him a look. "But-"

"Forget about it," he repeated, running a hand through his messy hair. "How long was I out?"

"Forty minutes, give or take," she said.

"Well then, I suppose we'd better get going," he replied as they headed out of her room. "You have everything you need?" He turned to look at her as they strode down the hallway.

"For the raid, yes," she nodded. The unspoken words between them spoke for themselves: they had everything they needed for the raid, but _what _- or rather, _who _- they needed was what was missing.

Why did they fight, you ask? Why did any of them fight? Finnick would keep on fighting until he found Annie Cresta, dead or alive. He would fight until the day he lost almost all of his hope, and even then, he would continue fighting. He would fight until he found Annie Cresta, and even after that, the fighting would go on, because he would avenge her death. Long after the war was supposedly over, he would keep on fighting. That was the way of the world for men and women like him, men and women who are fighters and will fight harder than everyone else for just about everything, for things that we hardly even think about or take for granted.


	2. Part II: The Enigma Known As Finnick Oda

Quick A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who gave me their feedback and thoughts on the last chapter.

I apologize for the late posting, my beta has been very caught up hasn't really had time to get the chapters back to me as quickly as I'd like.

/ / /

"_The ladies all thought him divine,_

_The nobles invited him home;_

_The castle he gave for their use,_

_And he for adventures did roam._"

—Anonymous, "The History of Jack the Giant-Killer"

/ / /

Part II: The Enigma Known As Finnick Odair

"That's not the way to the hovercraft," Katniss frowned as she followed a sudden turn that Finnick had made.

"No," he agreed, not turning to look at her. "You should go on ahead."

She ignored that last statement. "So where are we headed?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer to this.

"Isn't it obvious?" he responded, his tone full of forced lightness.

"The medical center?" She raised her eyebrows as they strode past a pair of automatic sliding doors. "Finnick," she frowned, her disapproval apparent.

Finnick turned to her, stopping so abruptly that she almost slammed into him. "Stay here," he said in a commanding tone.

"What?" She gave him an indignant look. "No. Since when did it become okay for you to order me around?"

He had already headed off, despite her protest, and Katniss let out an annoyed sigh before she leaned tensely against the cement wall.

Finnick, meanwhile, put up his hand and knocked on a door that had become strangely familiar to him in the weeks that he had resided in this compound.

"Come in!" a voice called from inside.

He swung the door open and took in the sight of Madge Undersee, who was deeply immersed in conversation with a frightened-looking young woman. She smiled at Finnick when he entered and mouthed the words "one second" to him before turning her attention back to the young woman. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited his turn.

"...want you to come see me once a week, all right?" Madge said in a calm voice, a kind smile on her face.

The young woman nodded, and in a sudden move that Finnick hadn't predicted, flung her arms around Madge. "Oh, thank you!"

Finnick was not going to waste any time pretending that he understood the strange behavior of people around here. The only person he even remotely trusted in this compound was Katniss Everdeen, given that they were both going through the same situation. Well, maybe not remotely trusted. It was a trust that ran deep, whether or not they liked to admit it. It was kind of like having a scarred but extremely feisty little sister to look after. Kindred spirits. Fighters. That was what they were.

"Excuse me," the young woman said, giving Finnick a shy smile.

"What?" he asked, shaking his head as he pulled out of his thoughts. He realized at the same moment that he was blocking the exit. "Ah." He gave her an apologetic smile, then stepped out of the way and opened it for her.

"Thank you." She blushed a deep crimson, and then hurried out of the room.

"You have them all over you," Madge noted, a smile on her face.

"Mm." He walked over to her, not amused. He didn't need the silly attentions of sighing young women that weren't Annie. Not right now. Not ever, if he could help it.

"Sit." She patted the medical bed.

He did so obediently, and took in the sight of her. Finnick studied people. He noticed tiny little details about them, often before they themselves even knew it. It was a bit weird, he knew, this habit of his, but it was one of the few things that helped him to stay in his right mind, that helped him to hold on, even as he clung desperately to the falling edge of the cliff that was sanity.

There were dark circles under Madge's eyes, and her hair was a mess. Everything about her was kind, but not with the sort of gullible naïveté that sometimes accompanied good-hearted people. She was like Prim, but older and with scars – marred, not on the outside, but inside, like so many of them were. It hurt for her, he could see, and she was doing everything to hide it. She was like someone that he once knew, despite the age difference. Someone who would be around the same age now, were he still alive. She was just like Eliot, Finnick admitted to himself. There.

"What are you doing here?" She stood in front of him. The medical robes were too big for her, he noted. She looked like a District girl who suddenly found herself thrust into the Capitol - trying to be sure of herself, but most definitely lost.

"Why am I ever here?" he said, answering her question with a question.

She frowned at him. "It's Thursday, Finnick. You only ever come for SFEA on-"

"Monday mornings, I know," he said simply.

"Which isn't today," she remarked, concern spilling into her voice. "You don't need it for another four days," she frowned.

"I need an extra dose," was his reply. "A few, actually, if you don't mind."

She drew herself up. It was almost comical how straight she seemed to become. "Why?" she demanded.

He gave her a grim smile as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back. "Raid."

"Today?" She raised her eyebrows, the surprise evident in her voice.

Finnick nodded in response.

"But it shouldn't last too long," she frowned. "It should only be a couple of days at the most, and by then you'll-" Realization dawned on her face, and her mouth opened into a small "o" before she gave him a hard look. "No." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Finnick. I know how much it means to you, but I won't-"

"You have to," he said. It wasn't a plea or a command, but a statement that he seemed to be very sure of.

"Are you insane?" Madge hissed, her usually calm demeanor now gone. "Does Katniss know you're going to do this? Does anyone?"

"No." He shook his head. "You're the only one who knows."

"I'm touched," she said sarcastically, worry and anger laced in her voice as she glared at him.

"Oh, you should be." He looked amused.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Finnick," she snapped.

"I never said it was, did I?" he replied.

"It's suicide!" she practically shouted. "Are you out of your right mind?"

"Maybe I am," he laughed, not the least bit concerned. He gave her a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Who knows?"

"I'm not giving them to you," she said, her voice determined. "If you think I'm insane enough to give them to you so that you can run off by yourself the minute that hovercraft reaches the Capitol, you-"

"I didn't know you were so concerned for me," he grinned at her, clearly humored.

"Finnick," she sighed.

He laughed. To be honest, he probably wouldn't need the shots. One, they would find Annie and bring her back. Or the other option, which he didn't want to think about: she wouldn't be there, and he would run off by himself. Others might need SFEA to stay awake, but Finnick was Finnick, and he probably wouldn't sleep a wink. But just in case, he needed those SFEA shots nonetheless. "Look," he began, "I didn't have to tell you any of this. In fact, I didn't have to come here. I could've just got a stash of SFEA and everyone would have been none the wiser."

She gazed at him. "So why are you telling me any of this?"

He was silent for a long time. Then, "You're just like him." He was looking at her, but his green eyes didn't seem to see her. They looked a thousand miles away, as though he was reminiscing about some distant memory.

She blinked in response. "Who?" she asked softly.

Finnick, however, didn't respond. He just kept on thinking about whoever it was that he saw in his mind's eye.

Madge looked at him, at this person who was almost dead but kept on fighting, who would keep on fighting until he fell. Even then, she knew, he would keep on going. There was only one answer that he would accept to his request, she realized. "Fine," she said in a loud voice.

He looked slightly startled by her concurrence, which had snapped him out of his reverie. "What?"

"On one condition," she held up her hand.

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I'm coming with you." She spoke slowly, as though she wasn't done thinking this through.

She thought that he was going to burst out with an "Absolutely not!" or something of the like, but Finnick didn't say anything. He just stared at her for a long moment, and then said, "All right."

The surprise was evident on her face. "You're serious about this?"

Finnick shrugged. "Anyone who took a minute to pay attention could see that you're dying for some action. Might as well let you come with us." He stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to figure her out. "I do believe that we're short a few nurses for this particular raid." He winked at her.

"You do plan on telling Katniss though, don't you?" Madge frowned. "I mean, you two are pretty inseparable."

"Maybe," he sighed as he stood up.

"I don't think she'll forgive you if you don't," she said carefully in reply.

"Don't think that I'm stupid enough to endanger the Mockingjay by telling her about my plan." He gave her a stern look, and his voice held a warning tone. They all knew how important Katniss was. While she lived, the entire Rebellion thrived. The War went on, but she was what gave people hope in these bleak times. To put her in any unnecessary danger would not only be foolish but extremely ill-advised. "Besides," Finnick went on, his voice falsely upbeat, "we'll find them there."

Madge wasn't so sure about that. How could any of them be? She hoped that they did, because if they didn't find Annie or Peeta, Finnick and Katniss would be even deader than they already were, and that frightened her right now more than anything. They were two of the strongest people that she knew, and to see them this way - well, it was uncomfortable, to say the least. "I don't get you," she replied, giving him an exasperated look.

"And you never will," Finnick said as he got up. "None of them ever do."

/ / /

Katniss looked up in surprise as she saw Finnick striding towards her, Madge by his side. "What's she doing here?" she demanded, not bothering to hide the disbelief in her voice.

"Coming along with us on our merry raid." Finnick winked at her as the three of them walked past the sliding glass doors.

Katniss gave him a look. "I can put two and two together, you know."

"And that's supposed to mean...?" He glanced at her as they headed down the hallway.

"Has she been the one giving you those SFEA shots?" Katniss asked, clearly ignoring the fact that Madge was walking alongside them. "Now you're thinking of having her tag along, and that's just going to pose-"

"Relax, Everdeen," he said in a patronizing voice.

"Oh, and I suppose you think you have this all under control?" She shot him an incensed look.

"Actually, I do," he smiled.

"Ha ha," Katniss said sarcastically before she lowered her voice. "It's not that I don't like her, it's just - why is she coming with us?"

"She has easy access to some things that I need," Finnick answered.

"SFEA?"

"Very smart, Girl on Fire," he winked.

Katniss's retort, whatever it might have been, was cut off by their arrival outside, where the hovercraft loomed in the distance.

"Here we are," Finnick announced as they walked past military cars that were carrying supplies to and from the hovercraft and just driving about in general.

A young man held a checklist and was crossing off names as they boarded. "...Everdeen, Finnick Oddair, got it." He frowned. "Madge, you're not on the list."

"Haymitch sent for her last-minute," Finnick said in a slow, deliberate tone.

The man frowned. "But-" Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh. But I'll still have to call Haymitch and tell him that-"

"I'm aware of that, thank you," Finnick flashed him a bright smile before the three of them boarded.

"Their security is rather lacking around here, don't you think?" Katniss said as they walked to the elevator. Cars whizzed past them and people were running here and there.

Finnick laughed as the clear doors slid open and the three of them stepped inside the elevator. "Only when it comes to us." He pressed the '8' button and then the doors slid shut.

Kaniss was about to open her mouth and ask him, but stopped once she realized what exactly was going on. They were heroes in the eyes of the other Districts and everyone here. If they were going to bring someone along, what was the harm? It wasn't as though they were spying for the Capitol. Besides, Haymitch was the one who gave clearances around here. All security had to do was call him and confirm whether or not someone was supposed to be on-board, and that was that.

"We're here," Madge said, breaking Katniss out of her train of thought at the same time that the robotic elevator voice announced their arrival on the eighth floor.

They exited the elevator, walking down the hallway and taking a sharp turn right before Finnick came upon an empty meeting room - well, almost empty. A familiar-looking figure sat at the head of the rectangular table, busily scribbling some notes down and frowning as he read over the raid plans.

"Hello, Hawthorne," Finnick said.

"Gale?" Madge raised her eyebrows, not moving from where she stood, despite the fact that Finnick and Katniss had already walked past the table and plopped themselves down onto an extremely wide divan. She couldn't help the surprise that was inflicted in her voice, so it ended up sounding more like an insult than a question.

"What's she doing here?" Gale asked in a slightly surprised voice, but still not looking up from whatever it was that he was jotting down as Madge made her way down the table and took the seat on his left.

"She's a nurse, Gale," Katniss said matter-of-factly. "We need her here."

"Do we?" He seemed bored, but Katniss could tell from the way that he tightened his grip on his pen that he was slightly vexed. "I wasn't aware that we needed the over-priviledged in here." Gale put down his pen and his eyes took in Madge's form.

"Oh, very funny," Madge snapped. "And I suppose you think you're so clever?"

"Better clever than dim," Gale responded, leaning back in his seat and pretending to ignore her.

Finnick, who was shaking with laughter after this comment, attempted (and failed miserably) to cover his laugh with a cough. Katniss raised her eyebrows at this, and he leaned over and whispered something into her ear that made her crack a smile.

"... least I do something, Gale," Madge was saying. "What do you do? Sit around all day and follow Haymitch's orders?"

Gale gave her a cool look. "Well, we all know that I'm not so blinded by my little crush on Finnick Odair that I'll do anything he says."

Madge immediately colored. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Katniss stole a glance at Finnick, who said nothing to this. If she didn't know him so well, she would say that he didn't look the least bit surprised. But as Katniss did happen to know him well, she noticed the slight movement of a chord in his neck and how his body seemed to tense at Gale's remark. But that was the only sign of any reaction from him. Perhaps he was so used to it - having everyone in Panem be in love with him - that this no longer had any other impact on him.

"Please." Gale seemed to be resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Anyone with common sense can see how obvious it is."

Madge gave him a miffed look. "Anyone who's deluded, obviously."

Gale let out a harsh laugh. "You think he'll ever see you as more than-" He paused, as though he were trying to figure something out. "As more than whatever it is he sees you as?"

"I told you," Madge repeated, looking irritated, "you don't know what you're talking about." The door to the meeting room opened at this very moment, but the only people who seemed to notice were sitting on the sofa.

"Do you think any of you mean anything to him?" Gale shot Finnick, who was calmly observing this spectacle, a glance. "None of you do," he said, answering his own question. "But you're all under the delusion that you actually do."

Haymitch, who was passing them by on his way to the command center, stopped and turned. "Knock it off, Hawthorne," he growled. "There's something called respect, you know."

Finnick relaxed into the divan. "Don't go chastising him when you haven't learned your own lesson, Abernathy," he said in a lazy voice.

Haymitch said nothing to this. A moment later, however, he seemed to realize that Madge was really there. "What're you doing here?" he demanded.

She frowned. "We're short on nurses for this raid."

"There's a reason for that," he replied. "And it's that we don't need an extra head to look after."

"I can take care of myself," Madge drew herself up straight.

Haymitch frowned at her. "Meet me at the command center in five minutes," he said briskly, and then strode away.

Katniss laughed at that and turned to Finnick, whose eyes were closed. "Think she'll listen to him?"

"No." He was so still that if not for the movement of his lips, she would have thought he was dead or deeply asleep.

Gale reverted his attention from Finnick and Katniss, who were talking in hushed voices to each other; to Madge. The words went unsaid between them. Look at that bond between the two of them, how in tune they were with one another. Gale had been Katniss' best friend for years, and even though that was something that wouldn't be broken, this whole connection with Finnick seemed to be stronger than their friendship of five years.

There was a reason why, of course. Katniss and Finnick - they were both Tributes, both Victors. The only two Tributes who had ever won by chance just happened to be Annie Cresta and Peeta Mellark, the people that they loved. The two tributes, amongst others, that happened to be taken captive by the Capitol. The only bond stronger than the one between Katniss and Finnick were the ones between Finnick and Annie, between Katniss and Peeta.

So, Gale's eyes said as he looked at Madge. Think you can compete with that? There were whispers in the compound that Finnick and Katniss were more than just friends, that all of this time that they spent together had definitely amounted to something else. Those who didn't know them well enough believed it. But Gale knew the truth. All of this affection between the two of them - it was weirdly chaste and platonic. No one else was able to connect with them. Not Gale, who had known Katniss for years, whom she should have trusted over Finnick, but instead hadn't let in. That she would so fully put her confidence in someone that she was willing to kill without a second thought only weeks earlier - no one could have explained it upon first glance. But upon closer observation, looking at all of the similarities that they shared - there was an understanding that was built on what they had been through, one that no one else, no matter how hard they tried, could comprehend.

"All he sees you as is another girl who's desperately in love with him," Gale said quietly in conclusion.

One mention of the name Annie Cresta, and the effect on Finnick Odair – well, competing with a girl who wasn't there - one might have thought that they stood a chance. And they might have, if Finnick wasn't madly in love with Annie. She was his everything, and anyone who knew him knew this. Funny, wasn't it? Finnick Odair in love with someone. But it was true.

Madge looked at him for a long time, and he didn't look away, refusing to be the first one to break contact. By her silence, he took it that she understood, that she knew that what he had just said in the silence before and in the uttered words shared between the two of them was true. It was true, and she knew it, but perhaps she didn't want to believe it. Madge said nothing, though, and after a while, she got up rather abruptly and left.

/ / /

"Right," Katniss nodded.

"The Capitol's not stupid; if they don't figure out what we're doing they will soon enough," Finnick continued to explain the plan to her. He turned to Gale, who was busy surveying the raid plan. "How much time will the decoys buy us?"

Gale sighed, and he seemed reluctant to speak. "Three hours at the most, if we're lucky. But you should expect somewhere between an hour to and hour and a half."

"Shit," Finnick swore under his breath. "That's not a lot of time." He pointed at the raid plan that Gale was reading.

Gale nodded in acknowledgement to Finnick's statement. "We need to get in, get who we can, and then get the hell out of there." He handed the plan over to Finnick.

Katniss rested her head in her palm as she stared at the two of them. "All right, Plan A," she said, talking out the plan. "We land in District 1 at the same time that the decoy hovercrafts land in all of the other remaining districts. We get out, take the prepared train to the Capitol. From there we're let into the hospital, and from there we go to the underground facilities where they're being held."

Gale inclined his head. "Or we go to Plan B, which is much simpler. We have the people who work for us inside. They turn off the Capitol's security system and electricity by overriding the security clearance. We go in and get who we came for, and do as much damage as possible. If we get everyone out, we blow up the building. Then we get back on the hovercraft and come back here."

"Sounds simple, doesn't it?" Finnick sighed, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he read the plan. "Who's going to get the Capitol hostages?"

"We're taking hostages?" asked Madge, who had just come in through the sliding doors.

"It's standard procedure," Gale shrugged, hiding his surprise at seeing her. "We take them so that we can bargain with the Capitol if we can't find who we're looking for. Then again, the Capitol doesn't really care for its own, so it might not be so simple."

She nodded. "I see." Her voice was rather quiet.

"Something wrong?" Finnick's gaze swung from the raid plan to Madge.

"No." She shook her head, then paused. "Well, aside from a lot of screaming and threatening on my part with Haymitch, not really."

Katniss laughed. "What'd you say to him?"

"Nothing," Madge lied as she took a seat. "But I have to stay on the hovercraft while the raid goes on." She made a face.

Finnick chuckled in amusement. "That's what most of the medical staff here are being told to do, so you shouldn't feel bad about it."

She sighed. "I want to fight, but he said that I should feel lucky that I'm going to be reading instructions."

Finnick lowered the raid plan and stared at her for a long moment. Then, "Train with Hawthorne."

"What?" Gale nearly shot out of his chair.

"Absolutely not," Madge said, obviously affronted.

"Why not?" Finnick went back to reading the raid plan, his hands the only visible thing as his face was now covered. Only Katniss, who was sitting next to him, could see that he was shaking with mirth, obviously amused. "He's one of Haymitch's favorite fighters, even though Haymitch is reluctant to admit it. Train with him, and who knows, you'll probably be good enough to come out with us in the field next time and fight."

"What's in it for Gale?" Katniss inquired, trying to control her laughter. Finnick didn't laugh too often nowadays, but when he did, it was contagious.

Finnick shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Haymitch will be suspicious at first, but once he trusts Gale with Madge, his opinion of Gale will go way up. You could use that, Hawthorne."

"Absolutely not-" Gale began at the same moment that Madge opened her mouth to speak.

Finnick held up a hand. "Think about it. It's just a suggestion, is all."

"Twenty minutes to destination," a robotic voice intoned over the intercom. "Prepare for landing."

"Twenty minutes, Katniss," Finnick murmured as he set down the raid plan and gazed at the screen in front of them that indicated which route they were on. "Plan B. Twenty minutes to the Capitol."

He looked so lost that she couldn't help but reach over and give his hand a quick squeeze before letting go. "We'll find them," she said, even though she wasn't so sure of this.

"I know." He nodded, this obviously being a lie that he desperately wanted to believe. "I know." Then, "We should head out now."

Katniss inclined her head. "All right."

They headed towards the door, Gale and Madge following after them. "Finnick," Madge said.

"Yes?" He turned.

"It's in the medical center," she said. "First room, second drawer."

He blinked, and then gave her a curt nod. "Thanks."

"Anytime," she said as he and Katniss headed off in the direction of the medical center.

"What did you do?" Gale asked quietly.

"Nothing." Madge didn't look at him. "Nothing at all."

Katniss, meanwhile, was figuring this all out. "I knew it!" she hissed as they got into the elevator.

"Knew what?" he asked innocently.

"Don't play stupid with me, Finnick," she sighed. "You got Madge to give you extra SFEA doses that you plan on taking if we don't find Annie."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked as the doors slid shut.

"It has everything to do with it," she said brusquely. "You plan on going off on your own with the rest of us none the wiser, which will obviously get you killed."

"I'm a grown man, Katniss." He smiled at her. "I can look after myself."

"No." She shook her head. "You're going to die, and then who am I going to rely on for stupid 'Look-at-me-I'm-so-witty' remarks?"

Finnick turned to her, grinning. "Don't worry about me, Everdeen," he said. "I'll be all-right."

"I'm coming with you," she said as the doors slid open and they stepped out of the elevator.

Finnick bristled at this. "Absolutely not." His voice held a strong conviction as they entered the hovercraft's medical center and made a short turn to the left before entering a room whose door simply read "Room 1".

"You think I'm bluffing?" Katniss asked, even though they both knew that she was, in a sense.

"You're too important to risk." He put his hands on her shoulders. "You're the Mockingjay," he said.

"I know I am," she looked up at him.

"Then you know why you can't come with me." His voice was soft, reassuring. "Katniss, you're needed here."

"So are you," she said firmly.

Finnick shook his head and turned away from her, opening the first drawer, where, there lay a brown paper bag. He opened it and, as Madge had promised, there lay three syringes and several tiny vials of SFEA. "Let's go, shall we?" he asked in a polite voice.

Katniss said nothing in reply. She could only hope that they found Annie on this raid, because if they didn't, what Finnick was about to do was as insane as suicide, and she knew from looking at him that he knew it as well.

"Five minutes to landing," the robotic voice droned into the intercom. "Prepare for impact."

Finnick pulled the shirt over his head and put it on. Just as he was sliding a few knives and small guns into his left shoe, Katniss walked in. His eyes took her in, and he laughed.

"What?" she frowned, looking down at what she was wearing as she crossed her arms.

"Nothing." Finnick smiled at her, and then turned his attention back to the weapons that he was busy sliding into every nook and cranny that he could find in his suit.

"You ready?" Katniss queried as he slid his gloves on.

Finnick let out a breath. "Yeah." He glanced at her. "You have everything you need?"

She nodded in response, and they left the room and went out to the landing dock, where Madge was busy reading instructions to a large group of people who all donned the same sleek-looking protective material that covered them from chin to ankle.

"..niss Everdeen, Finnick Odair, and Gale Hawthorne will head the rescue mission for the captives of Group A. Gale Hawthorne will be team leader, and this group will also include..."

"Since when was Gale put in charge?" Finnick frowned, obviously not taking very kindly to this announcement.

"Ever since you two were personally involved in this," Gale said as he came up beside them, giving them an acknowledging nod.

They understood, of course. They needed someone who would have a clear head, who was as good a fighter as they were to be in charge. And who better to lead them than Gale? He wasn't personally invested in this mission, and he wouldn't lead them into anything rash, which Katniss and Finnick were most likely to do if they were put directly in charge.

"Landing in two minutes," the robotic voice announced over the loudspeaker. "Prepare for impact."

Everyone moved away from the center, with only Madge remaining as she finished reading the list. "... Ellis in the hostage group, and that will be all."

"Gale," Katniss said, putting her hand on his arm.

He spun around quickly and took in the sight of her. It was futile, he knew, to hope that they could ever be anything more than best friends. When she had returned from the Hunger Games the previous year, he'd thought that they might have stood a chance. But this whole captive-taking of Peeta seemed to make her realize just how important the bread boy was to her. So it really wasn't good at all that Gale still wished for something more between him and Katniss. But you couldn't help whom you loved, he knew. Perhaps, over time, the pain he felt would gradually start to fade away. But he very much doubted it. "Yes?"

"I need to speak to you," she said in a hushed tone, her face very serious.

"Without Finnick around?" He quirked his eyebrows. Those two were practically inseparable nowadays. Gale was envious of Finnick, not because the older man could have any woman he wanted, but because he had stolen away Katniss, who had been Gale's best friend and meant so much more to him. Neither of them had done it on purpose, Gale knew. But it still hurt to know that your friendship of five years was now second tier to one with someone that she had only known for a few months at the most, even if that person did happen to share a connection that only the two of them could understand.

Katniss bit her lip. "It's about him, actually."

She looked so worried that Gale wanted to wrap his arms around her or go yell at Finnick for whatever he had done now. But he did neither of these things. Instead, he nodded. "What is it?"

Katniss knew better than to glance over her shoulder. "Is he around?"

Gale's eyes darted around. "Make it quick," he said, because Finnick, although immersed in conversation with one of the other fighters, was fast approaching them.

She nodded. "He thinks there's a good chance of us not fighting Annie. So he's got Madge to give him a lot of SFEA doses, and-"

Gale knew where she was headed, and he couldn't help the worry that spilled into his voice. "He plans on running off by himself once the raid is done?"

Katniss inclined her head. "Yeah."

Gale ran his left hand over his face as he let out a breath. "Shit."

"We can't let that happen," she said in a clipped tone.

"I know," he nodded resolutely. "What do you want me to do?"

"If we don't find them," Katniss said slowly, as though she was thinking this out, "you'll have to knock him out without him knowing. Or make him help you get things back to the hovercraft. Just-"

She was cut off by a sudden jerking of the hovercraft, as people were thrown here and there. "Landing at destination," the robotic voice said.

"...sure you keep him in your sight at all times," Katniss finished speaking.

Gale stared at her, at this young woman whom he'd been in love with for years, who he'd never plucked up the courage to tell how he felt until it was too late. "I will," was all he said.

Katniss seemed to realize something, and then she said, "You're still my best friend, you know. I don't think that'll ever change." Gale could tell from her voice that she truly believed it.

He had to smile at that. "Thanks, Catnip."

She grinned at the nickname. "'course, Gale."

Finnick chose exactly this moment to walk over. "Hey," he said. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," Gale shook his head. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah," Katniss and Finnick nodded simultaneously as they all began to file out. They'd been waiting what seemed to be an infinite amount of weeks for this, and now it was finally here. What would happen when they went in? Perhaps they would find Annie and Peeta, or perhaps they wouldn't. Perhaps these weeks and weeks of turmoil would be over tonight. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.


	3. Part III: Here Is Where & When & How Hop

A/N: Again, a late chapter. I apologize, my beta didn't get this back to me on-time, but I'll do my best to have the next one up much sooner. Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback for the last chapter!

"_His hands trembled, sir. His clothes were dirty, there was water in his eyes - he is broken._"

-1.08, "Pharsalus" - _Rome_

Part III: Here Is Where & When & How Hope Begins To Fail, or, The Hall of Smoke & Mirrors

"Into the cars, get in!" Gale shouted. "Hurry up, we don't have a lot of time!"

"Can you drive?" Katniss asked as she got in on the passenger side.

Over from the driver's seat, Finnick smirked at her. "Can't you, Everdeen?"

Katniss raised her eyebrows and then shook her head in amused disbelief. "You can drive?" she repeated, now very amused by this.

"What?" He looked affronted. "It's not like it's a big secret or something."

_"I can't believe you actually want to learn how to drive." Annie was laughing so hard that her body was shaking with mirth. _

_"It's not _funny_, Annie__.__" Finnick made a face at her as he leaned back against the dark purple car, adjusting his sunglasses and crossing his arms. Any other girl or woman would have been swooning __at__ the sight of Finnick Odair driving up to their house and lounging against his car in a tight t-shirt that showed off his athletic body as he invited them to come take a drive with him, but not Annie. Never Annie. "A lot of the other Victors know how to do it, you know." _

_"I'm sorry," Annie said, not sorry at all. She did at least attempt to cover her laughs with a cough, which, of course, failed miserably and sent her bursting into a fit of hysterics once more. _

_"Stop laughing!" he insisted, but it was half-hearted anyhow. Annie smiling and laughing was a beautiful thing, and he didn't think he ever wanted her to stop doing it, even if it _was _at his expense, especially since he barely saw her nowadays. "You coming?" he asked after she had stopped chortling._

_"All right__.__" Annie smiled at him. He opened the car door for her and she got in. "Always the gentleman," she said quietly, now lost in thought. Her smile had disappeared only to be replaced by a thoughtful frown. _

_Finnick winked at her. "'__C__ourse I am." _

_"Right," she said, shaking her head as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. _

_He shut the door and crossed over to the driver's side. "So," he said as he turned the key in the engine__,__ "__w__here are we headed?" _

_She was smiling again. "We're not going to your driving lesson?" _

_"No," he said. _

_"What?" she exclaimed, now laughing once more. _

_"Annie!" __H__e tried to sound offended, but it came out as a weird sound between a cough and a chuckle. _

_"They're letting you drive through District 4 even though you aren't fully trained yet?" Finnick didn't know it was possible for her grin to get any wider, but it did._

_"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you," he smiled. _

_"Sorry," she said, her expression sobering for one moment before she took one look at his face and started smiling from ear to ear again. _

_He sighed as he pulled away from Annie's house. "Are you trying to tell me that you think it's dangerous for me to be driving around without being fully trained?" _

_Annie leaned back into her seat, still grinning. "Terrifying," she managed to say in a very serious tone. _

_"Not _that _terrifying, I should hope__.__" Finnick looked over at her, but she still looked the perfect picture of forced dourness. _

_"Very," she said as he drove down the street. _

_"It's that bad?" __H__e r__aised__ his eyebrows. _

_"No," Annie said quickly in an honest voice. "I mean, I don't know how to drive, so I really can't tell you whether or not you're doing a good job or not, and I - Finnick!" _

_He slammed his foot against the brakes just as a goat - a _goat_? - went trotting past them on the street. The car came to a screeching halt and both of them were jerked forward before the car rocked back. "Was that a goat?" Finnick blurted out loud, puzzled. _

_"I think so," Annie frowned, and then she started to shake with mirth once more. _

_"What?" he demanded. "What's so funny?" _

_"Even the goats," she was gasping for breath, "are so terrified of your driving," Annie was clutching her stomach now, "that they're getting out of the District," she coughed, "as fast as they can." _

_"What?" Finnick cried, giving her a rankled look as he made a right turn. "Are you telling me that the entire District is fleeing because of my terrible driving?" Try as he might to sound insulted, Finnick couldn't help but be amused by this. _

_She nodded earnestly, "As fast as they can." _

_"Annie," he laughed, unable to contain himself. Then, "Where did you say you wanted to go again?" _

_"I didn't," she answered. _

_"I know," Finnick nodded. _

_"I don't really mind," she said. "Wherever you want to go is fine." _

_He was silent for a few moments as he pondered where he could bring her, and then he gave her a mischievous grin as he made a left turn. "I know _exactly _the place." _

_"What?" Annie stared at him, and then her eyes widened. "Finnick!" _

_He laughed once more as he turned to her. "What?" _

_"You have that look on your face__.__" __S__he folded her arms. _

_"What look?" Finnick asked in a carefully neutral voice, his face perfectly innocent and composed. _

_"The one where you're up to something__.__" __S__he quirked her eyebrows. _

_"Ah, that__.__" __H__is lips twisted into a smile that broke across his entire face. "Well, you see, we're going to go teach you how to drive." _

_"What?" Annie exclaimed, gaping at him. _

_Finnick's eyes danced with laughter. "It'll be fun!" _

_"Fine," she muttered, but he could already see that she was fighting to keep a smile off of her face. _

"'Sparkle Road, ahead one mile'," Katniss read out loud as she adjusted her night goggles.

"Hmm?" Finnick didn't take his eyes off of the road to look at her.

"'Glamour Road,'" she went on. "'Glitter Road up ahead'." Katniss stopped and let out a snort. "You know, I never realized the Capitol had such idiotic names for their roads."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Finnick replied. "Although, if you think about it, it's kind of cute. In a dumb, pathetic sort of way."

Katniss laughed out loud, and was about to say something in response when the video screen, which had been on standby, popped to life.

"This is Gale, extraction leader," the voice came from the video screen. "We have a problem with the main route. All vehicles take the right turn on Glitter Road, I repeat, take the right turn."

Finnick swore under his breath as he took a sharp veer to the right. "You mind telling us this kind of information a little earlier, Hawthorne?"

They heard an irritated but understanding grunt of condescendence that echoed loudly through the car's loudspeakers. "Sorry, Odair. I just got this information message about five seconds before I told you."

"Great," Finnick muttered.

"What?" Katniss looked over at him as they made their way down the road.

All he said in a tight voice was, "I really hope our technology and fighters are up to par." They really didn't need any extra reasons to worry about the success or failure of this raid.

They continued the silent drive, Finnick's hands gripped so tightly on the steering wheel that his knuckles were white. The only sounds that could be heard were that of the car making its way down the road, the other fighters in the back who were busy adjusting their gear, the whispered conversations that quickly died out and were replaced by boots scuffing against the floor of the truck.

"We're here," Katniss said as they passed by a sign that read "Winking Street" and pulled up to a large, lone building that seemed to go on and on. "Hospital," she said to herself, letting out a sigh.

An emergency entrance had already been opened, and from their night goggles, they could see that one of their own was standing by, busy ushering all of the trucks in.

Finnick had barely pulled in front of the sliding doors that Katniss let herself out of the car. No sooner had he turned off the engine that Finnick quickly followed suit, neither of them waiting to see if any of the other team members were actually behind them.

"How long will the electricity be off for?" Katniss asked as other vehicles quickly pulled up.

"There's a back-up source, but Beetee said that if he's hacked into their system he should be able to stave them off for about three hours," Gale announced as he came up beside them.

It was at this moment that Finnick swung the automatic gun that was slung around his shoulder, which they had all become extremely familiar with during training, and shot at the glass sliding doors. "Fast entrance," he shrugged when he caught them blinking at him before he slipped through the gaping hole, not once bothering to look back and see if they had followed him.

They nodded quickly and wordlessly followed him through the huge hole, Gale not remarking about this momentary change in leadership from him to Finnick.

"Hey," Katniss said as she caught up with Finnick.

"Hey," he said, his voice taut with tension. "Is Gale back there splitting up the rest of them?"

"It seems like they're splitting themselves up," she replied as her eyes swept the empty corridor. It was quite a contrast to a few months ago when they had all come in, fresh recruits and ready to train. Enthusiastic but not properly drilled. And now, they were. For the most part, anyway. Every army had its tiny flaws here and there, and the Rebellion was no exception.

Whatever response he was about to give her, Katniss wouldn't find out, because it was at this precise moment that Finnick halted where he was. "Room Seven," he said. "It's here." He fired a few rounds at the glass as they stepped back, and then they entered the room. It looked like any ordinary hospital room, complete with sleeping patients, minus the fact that they all knew where this room led.

While the other team members who had quickly followed them in checked throughout the room for any guards or Peacekeepers, Finnick made his way to each of the beds and began to push them out of the way as Katniss and Gale immediately moved to do the same.

This presented a problem, of course, seeing as the patients weren't really patients, but mutts who threw the bedsheets aside the moment the beds were moved, and they attacked, teeth bared in a hungry snarl. "Mutts!" Finnick shouted as he removed the knife from his left boot and began to engage in a fight with the one that had leapt out of the bed.

That, if anything, seemed to make the room come to life. The Capitol inventions sprang not only out of the beds, but also seemed to come from the storage cabinets, and the rebel soldiers found themselves in a tussle as they fought their way through; a loud torrent of animal shrieks, gunshots, shouts, and things slamming against the wall.

Finnick looked up, smiling grimly at Katniss as he finished hacking yet another mutt to death before pulling the trigger he held against its head for good measure.

"We need to find the trapdoor!" Katniss shouted over the din of noise.

Gale nodded at them. "It's supposed to be under one of the beds!"

"You think we don't know this already?" Finnick yelled as he threw his knife at an incoming mutt.

Gale's reply and Finnick's remark that his comment was meant as a joke was lost as they were both distracted by screaming mutts that came charging at them. The shrieks and shouts seemed to get louder, if that was even possible. "This is Gale Hawthorne speaking," Gale yelled into the audio device clipped to his shoulder. "Room 7, Extraction Team, we need backup immediately! I repeat, we need backup immediately!"

"Found it!" Katniss cried out suddenly, waving her gun at a strangely obvious woodend trapdoor that stood out from the other patterns on the linoleum floor as she simultaneously drove her knife into a mutt and kicked an incoming one with her foot. "It's locked!" She looked up as she assessed the opening that they needed to get through. She struggled with it for a few more seconds, shooting at it and throwing nearby items that she could get her hands on, but it wouldn't budge.

Finnick, seeing her dilemma, fought his way towards her, shooting with one hand and hacking away at mutts with the other. "Get out of the way!" he shouted as he came running towards her.

She nodded, understanding what he was about to do, and ran (as quickly as you could through a sea of dead mutt bodies while you were busy shooting and hacking away at their incoming relatives, anyhow) towards the door. "Everybody clear out of this room!" Katniss shouted.

"Everyone out! Get out!" Gale roared over the deafening sound of the shrieking mutts and the fighting men and women. "Out of the room, now!"

Finnick reached into his left pocket as the other rebel fighters moved as quickly as they could to the door. Gale was shouting something at him, but Finnick paid him no heed as he threw two little bombs at the trapdoor, fired a few more rounds of his automatic for good measure, and ran to the door as speedily as he could.

The majority of the mutts had followed the rebels outside, and everyone was occupied. "Get down!" Finnick yelled as he burst through the doors. "Everyone get down!"

He had barely uttered these words when the sound and sight of an explosion burst through Room Seven. The sound of screaming mutts and glass flying was enough to signal that the bombs had worked. Finnick ran back into the room, Katniss hot on his heels. Gale, meanwhile, signaled two of his fighters to come close.

"Sir!" the men yelled at Gale as they approached.

Gale nodded at them. "Ambrose, follow me in with half-" He was cut off as he dodged an incoming mutt. "Riegl, stay here with half of the soldiers and only follow us in once backup arrives, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Riegl shouted as he spun to his left and aimed his gun at another mutt that came flying at him.

Finnick and Katniss stood by the gaping hole that was left where the trapdoor used to be. Katniss was busy getting rope out of her uniform while Finnick stood guard, shooting any incoming mutts, which there weren't that many of. Not yet, anyway.

"Hey," Gale said as he approached them, half of the soldiers quickly following him into the room.

"Hey," Katniss replied as she hastily tied one end of the rope to the remains of a metal bed that she had dragged over.

"Amaryllis, Tom, I want you two to guard this hole while the rest of us go in," Gale commanded them.

They nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I'll go down first." Gale took the rope from Katniss.

"No." She shook her head. "We're the ones who wanted this, so we-"

"Catnip," he said in a soft, reassuring tone, "I'll be fine."

Katniss bit her lip, and then let out a loud sigh. "All right."

Finnick threw a fume stick down the hole, and it landed close to the other one that he had thrown earlier, a colorful burst of crimson that lit the dark.

"It looks about twenty feet," Gale commented as he peered down before beginning his descent.

Katniss was busy getting out other ropes and had attached four more of them to the legs of the bed when Finnick tapped her shoulder. "Let them take care of it," he nodded at Amaryllis and Tom. "We need to go."

She inclined her head, and they began their descent down the ropes, sliding down silently and stealthily. They both landed, a few of the other soldiers landing besides them. While the others waited for their fellow rebels to finish coming down, Finnick and Katniss made their way to Gale, who had had not yet turned on his goggle lights.

"What is it?" Finnick mouthed at him.

Gale shook his head. He had a bad feeling about this, but he wasn't about to voice it out loud, especially when the two of them looked more somber than ever. Instead, he nodded his head as the last rebel slid down the rope. "Let's go?" he asked as the group headed towards them.

Katniss nodded in agreement as Gale turned on his goggle lights and they made their way down the eerily quiet hallway. There was something wrong with the fact that no one was here to stand guard and shoot at them as they edged closer and closer to a lone metal door that stood slightly ajar at the end of the hallway. "Something's wrong," Katniss blurted out in a whisper as she easily pushed the door open. It was a discomforting noise, metal screaming its protest as it was swung open, the hinges shrieking loudly.

There was yet another door at the end of another hallway, a door that was slightly ajar, as if beckoning them to come closer.

Gale bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to tell them what his theory was about all of this. There was too much of a coincidence - the fact that the moment they had descended down into-

"Move!" Finnick yelled, shoving Katniss roughly aside as the door at the end of the hallway suddenly flew open and a round of bullets aimed at Katniss came flying through the air.

"We're under attack!" Gale shouted as robed Peacekeepers came bursting through the door and ran quickly towards them.

That was all that he needed to holler, because a second later, all that could be heard were shouts, rounds of gunfire, and bodies falling to the ground. When they were sure that the last of the Peacekeepers had fallen to the floor, Gale signaled for Finnick and Katniss to go on ahead.

"Come with us!" Finnick called as they moved towards the door that was now held open by toppled bodies.

Gale shook his head. "I have to get the wounded and dead first!" he gestured towards some of the rebels who had fallen. "I won't leave them here! I'll be there, just go!"

The duo seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then they went through the door and disappeared from sight.

"Ambrose, take the rest and follow them in," Gale said.

"Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself, sir?" Ambrose asked. "Aloaceae and I could stay behind to help you."

Aloaceae came up beside Gale. "Sir, with your permission, I'd rather stay behind."

Gale paused for a moment, and then gave a curt nod. "All right. You're sure about this?"

She nodded. "My brother-" She gestured towards a figure on the floor who was busy coughing up blood. "I need to stay with him until the end. We promised each other."

"Very well." Gale bit his lip. "Let's go!" he shouted as he stood up and ran towards the door, only looking back once to see Aloaceae gather her brother in her arms and whisper something to him that only the two of them could hear. "This is Gale Hawthorne, extraction leader speaking," he spoke into the audio device. "We have some wounded and dead after the entrance in Room Seven, requesting a pickup for them immediately."

"Coming your way, Hawthorne," replied the familiar voice of Haymitch.

"Thanks," Gale replied just as he reached the end of yet another hallway and pushed open the door, finally catching up with Finnick and Katniss, who were standing there, not moving. "What is it?" he asked.

They didn't need to reply, because when he followed their gaze, he saw what exactly it was that they were looking at. Red, everywhere. On the walls, underneath their boots on the floor, even on the ceiling when they looked up. It would be a pretty splatter if they all didn't know what it really was that decorated their grim-looking surroundings.

"Is it dry?" Katniss asked, biting her lower lip as she watched him remove his right glove and reach his hand out to touch the wall.

Finnick turned to her, shaking his head as he wiped his right hand against his uniform. "Both." He paused, and then pronounced as he put his glove back on, "Follow the red-splatter road, I suppose."

That remark would have been funny under other circumstances, but everything was on the line right now, more so for the both of them than for anyone else who was with them.

They made their way quietly down the hallway, guns raised just in case anything happened to come bursting through yet another door at the end of the hallway. Finnick pushed open the door and let out a sound somewhere between a sigh or relief and a sharp intake of breath. "They're here," was all he said. Finnick switched on his goggle lights that illuminated the hallway as he made his way down the corridor. There was no visible door at the end, as far as they could tell. Instead, cages and cells lined the walls, varying in size and shape.

Ambrose and the other soldiers were about to set to work prying the cages open when the lights above them suddenly flickered. There was the sound of bursting, and then they found bright, white lights shining down on them.

"What the hell?" Gale muttered under his breath as he reached for his audio device. "This is Gale Hawthorne, extraction leader. Why is the electricity coming back on in the underground structures? I thought we were guaranteed a three-hour time frame in which to-"

"Look at this," Katniss murmured as she swung the door of the cage open. "They're not locked." That could only mean one thing.

Finnick turned to her, and what she could see of his face was white as a sheet. "They're not here."

"We don't know that," she said, even as the despair made its way through her veins.

But even as she held the door open for him and he reached in to extract whatever prisoners were inside, Katniss already knew.

"These ones are dead," Finnick said as soon as he got the prisoners out. Their mouths were open in silent screams, their eyes wide with terror, their bodies limp. "Fuck!" he shouted as he slammed the cage door shut.

As he did so, there were similar shouts from the other soldiers. "They're dead!" or "They're all dead!" and "None of them are alive!"

Gale, who was still arguing furiously with Haymitch as he spoke into the audio device, approached them, shaking his head. "There's some sort of problem," he said.

"Beetee promised us a guaranteed three hours," Katniss crossed her arms, and her voice was filled with anger. "What went wrong?"

Gale shook his head, obviously just as irritated by this new complication. "I don't know. The Capitol must have found a way around it, but I-"

He was cut off by the sound of Finnick busily aiming his automatic at the wall, stopping only when a large, gaping hole appeared in the wall. "Shall we?" Finnick turned to them as he approached the huge hole, firing a few more rounds into it for good measure.

"The lights," Katniss said in a soft voice as she looked up. They were flickering, and then without warning, they turned off. "Beetee," she smiled, obviously relieved.

Finnick's goggle lights, which he hadn't switched off, lit yet another endless row of cages. He didn't bother to check these as he made his way down the corridor and aimed his automatic once more at a wall that seemed to stop but really led to another hall full of cages. On and on he went, only stopping to reload his ammunition or to fire. Ambrose and the other soldiers were making their way through the cages, taking out bloody and dead bodies and leaving them on the floor as they all followed Finnick's trail of shooting and exploding wall plasters.

Finally, after what must have been half an hour and fifty walls went through, Finnick shot through the final wall, and beyond it, there lay-

"Outside?" Katniss asked out in a perplexed voice.

Together, they stuck their heads out of the gaping hole and looked up. Sure enough, all they could see were the twinkling stars in the night sky that seemed to be winking at them, and, off in the far distance, the Rebellion's military trucks, which were sitting there silently, waiting for a further signal to return to the hovercraft or to-

"I don't get it," Ambrose frowned as he came up beside them. "If this is underground, then why have we ended up-"

"Above ground?" Gale asked.

Ambrose nodded. "Unless-" His eyes widened as he answered his own question. "Elevation," he said. "They must have built it as some sort of escape system as well as a prison."

"Seems like it," Gale sighed. "Have you found anyone or anything?"

Ambrose shook his head. "All the prisoners we found were already dead. But we did find-"

"Look," Finnick said, pointing up at the night sky.

"Hmm?" Katniss, who was beside him, looked up.

"The Dioscuri," he murmured.

_They lay next to one another on the blanket that they had stretched out against the soft sand, the ocean crashing in the distance, but neither of them paying it any mind. When you were from District 4, you weren't scared of the water. _

_"Wow," was all Finnick could manage to get out. _

_"Isn't it beautiful?" Annie smiled as they stared up at the night sky, at the stars that seemed to be glittering and waving down at them. _

_He turned to her.__ "Thank you__.__" _

_"For what?" she laughed. _

_"For showing me this," Finnick replied. "It's breathtaking." _

_"Only at night," she smiled, and then her voice became quiet. "My father used to take us here. Before he died." _

_"You and your mother?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. _

_Annie nodded wordlessly. "We'd have picnics at night, and then he'd point at the stars and tell us stories about them from the Old World." _

_Finnick reached over and took her hand, their fingers interlacing before he gave it a tight squeeze. "I'm sorry." _

_She shook her head. "Not your fault." _

_"I know__.__" Finnick's green eyes bore__d__ into hers. "But I'm sorry anyway."_

_They stared at each other for a few minutes, and then they reverted their eyes back towards the shining stars. _

_"Annie?" Finnick asked. _

_"Yeah?" she answered. _

_"Look__.__" __H__e pointed their interlaced fingers up at the night sky. _

_"What is it?" Annie inquired._

_"Do you see those stars over there?" __H__e nodded at their right. "That's one of the northern constellations," he said. "The Gemini." _

_She let out a laugh as she r__aised__ her eyebrows. "Oh?" _

_"See the two brightest stars in that constellation?" he asked. _

_Annie didn't say anything for a moment as she looked, and then nodded once she found them. "Yeah, I see them." _

_"Castor and Pollux," he said. _

_"The Dioscuri," she smiled. "What are you trying to say, Finnick?" _

_"Well," Finnick shifted against the blanket__,__ "Pollux loved his mortal brother so much that he chose to have his immortality shared between them, didn't he?" _

_"Your point being?" Annie was still smiling. _

_"Since you apparently know this story already and I can't impress you with my excellent knowledge of the Old World and their myths and legends, I'll just-" _

_He was cut off by her laugh. "Finnick," she said. _

_"Yeah?" he asked in a soft voice. _

_Annie shook her head. "Nothing," she smiled as she snuggled against him. "They're beautiful," was all she said. _

_Finnick nodded, and he watched her as she drifted off to sleep, her breathing soon becoming even and rhythmic. "Annie?" he asked as he sensed that she was just on the edge of sleep. _

_"Yeah?" she asked in a sleepy voice, not bothering to open her eyes. _

_"Promise me something?" _

_"Hmm?" she murmured. "What is it?" _

_"If anything ever..." __H__e paused, trying to find the right words. "If anything ever happens, promise me you'll look for the Dioscuri and think of me?" _

_There was silence for a moment. One eyelid slowly opened, and then the other. Now it was Annie's turn to give his hand a squeeze. "Nothing's going to happen, Finnick," she frowned. "We're just spending time apart." _

_"Promise me," he said in an insistent voice. "Promise me this year every night you'll look for them." _

_Annie nodded before her eyes fluttered shut once more, sleep overtaking her. "Promise." _

"Castor and Pollux," Finnick said, not turning to look at Katniss. "Annie."

It was some sort of promise they had made to one other long ago, Katniss guessed. "Which ones?" she asked in a soft voice.

"See that constellation over there?" He pointed. "The Gemini. The Dioscuri are its brightest stars," he said. "Castor and Pollux."

For a moment, Katniss envied Finnick Odair. He and Annie had something special, something that was some sort of secret code between them, something that she and Peeta hadn't had, despite everything. It was these little things that seemed like nothing that made up a lot of the beauty of a relationship. Then she reminded herself that Finnick had spent years sleeping with an endless list of Capitol women, and she didn't feel so jealous anymore. How that must have hurt Annie, even if some of the women were just rumors.

"Hey," Gale said as he finished a conversation with Haymitch via his audio device. "You need to see something," he said.

Finnick frowned.

"There's something that was left here," Gale explained as he led them to the last cell, which was strangely empty except for a folded, cream-colored envelope that lay silently on the floor. "Ambrose and Lily found it."

"Some sort of package?" Katniss knit her eyebrows.

None of them moved towards it. It could be some sort of bomb or other device meant to explode in their faces, for all they knew. "Hold on," Finnick and Gale said at the same moment.

"Do you have the detection device on you?" Finnick turned to the other man.

Gale nodded. "You?"

"Of course I do," Finnick said, his tone blank.

Gale didn't reply, instead taking out the bomb detection device from inside his coat.

At this same moment, about twenty uniformed Peacekeepers came bursting through the open hole. There were loud shots as Finnick, quick as a cat (and almost just as lazily) raised his gun and bullets went flying through the air at the same time that Katniss and the other soldiers aimed.

"It's clean!" Gale shouted, looking up to witness Finnick and Katniss slamming one of the remaining Peacekeepers against the wall as the other rebels pressed their fingers against the fallen Peacekeepers' necks to check their pulse or engaged in fights with them.

"Where," Finnick hissed, his gun pointed at the man's temple, "are the prisoners?"

The Peacekeeper coughed, and then let out a laugh. "You think I'll tell you?"

"You don't want to mess with me right now," Finnick snarled before he roughly dragged the Peacekeeper to a closed cage and slammed the man's face against it repeatedly.

Gale stood silently by, gun ready as his gaze reverted from the open hole to the package that sat there silently, waiting. Finnick's automatic went on shooting through the cage bars until there was a huge, gaping hole. There was more dragging, the sound of a struggle, a few grunts and shouts, and then Finnick had the Peacekeeper's body slammed up against the cage once more. "You think this is a game, you silly little Capitol tool?" Finnick hissed. "Your buddies are dead and you're stuck here with us. Either you talk, or I'll-"

The Peacekeeper laughed. "Snow sent us to give you a very special message, Katniss Everdeen and Finnick Odair."

Finnick let out a snort. "Along with getting yourself killed?"

The Peacekeeper was still laughing. "In time, you'll come to see that there are many of us who-"

"Shut up," Finnick snarled. "Where," he hissed, "are the prisoners?'

The man smirked. "Look inside that package and find out."

No one made a move towards the package, although Finnick did reach into his back pocket.

Gale frowned, as though to say: what are you doing?

The motion that came afterwards was so quick that if Gale hadn't been watching, he wouldn't have noticed it. But it was very clear that Finnick hard withdrawn something from his uniform and had thrust it into the side of the Peacekeeper's throat. The man's eyes widened for a moment before he began to laugh, and then he slumped over.

"What did you do?" Gale walked over just as Finnick withdrew the syringe from the man's throat with a swift yank.

"Sleeping dose," the other man shrugged, unconcerned. "We'll bring him to the District for questioning."

Gale nodded. "Does he have a tracker on him?"

Finnick looked bored. "Why don't you check?" He didn't look back as he walked over to the cream-colored enveloped and opened it.

"It's some sort of video device," Katniss, who was besides him and hadn't uttered a single word this entire time, frowned.

Gale turned to Finnick as he dragged the knocked out Peacekeeper from the other cage over to where the video device was. "Are you going to watch it?"

"It might be programmed to play only once," Finnick said. "So our best choice is to take it back to the hovercraft and see what to do from there."

At this, the device seemed to spring to life, and the screen filled with color. "Hello, little rebels from District 13," came the voice of a smiling President Snow. "By now, you're most likely wondering 'Why haven't we found our fellow traitors?' Why indeed!" He seemed very amused. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that we've gotten advance notice of your stupid little heroic raid, and we're off with who you want," the President beamed. "Oh, don't frown at me like that. Here's Johanna Mason now to speak to you!" he smirked and looked to his right, where there was the sound of shouting.

"Get your filthy hands off of me, you fu-"

"My my, Johanna." President Snow shook his head disapprovingly. "Don't go around using your dirty mouth. None of us appreciate it."

"You stupid son of a bitch, do you think I'm afraid of you?" Johanna spat at him as she was dragged in by two Peacekeepers who looked greatly annoyed.

"Your little friends from District 13 are here to speak to you," Snow said in a patronizing voice. "Wouldn't you like to talk to them?"

"What?" Johanna snapped at him.

"Come now, don't play the little fool with me, Johanna," Snow laughed. "Finnick Odair? Katniss Everdeen? Any of those names ring a bell?"

"He has a plan!" Johanna was screaming at them as she realized she could possibly inform them of what was going on. "He's injected us with-"

She was cut off as one of the Peacekeepers brought a heavy object against her head. She fell on the floor, blood gushing from the back of her head as she toppled to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?" Snow barked angrily, momentarily losing his cool.

"She was being irritating, sir," the Peacekeeper replied.

"She's important! We don't need you to go around injuring her unnecessarily!"

"Yes, sir," the Peacekeeper bowed.

"Shut up," Snow said, drawing out his pistol and shooting the man three times. "There," he said, looking satisfied once the Peacekeeper had crumpled to the floor.

"Sir?" The other Peacekeeper was still, not daring to move.

"Get them both out of here." Snow waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, sir," the man nodded before he picked up Johanna and exited the room.

"See?" President Snow turned back to the screen. "I'm not heartless, District 13. I have compassion, you know. Is Finnick Odair there? I have a delightful piece of news for him."

Katniss's gaze swung from the screen to Finnick, and she could see that his jaw was clenched and his fingers were flexing as though he wanted to reach through the screen, yank the President out, and murder him right then and there.

"You see, your _delightful _little conquest - what was her name? Anna? Amrita? Oh, I know! Annie! Annie Cresta! She's the one who gave us the idea, you know. Clever little thing, she is," the President smiled. "Too bad Johanna never got to finish telling you what it was." Snow gave them a fake pout and shook his head. "Oh well. Aren't you just dying to find out what it is? Well, too bad. I won't tell you. And Katniss Everdeen. Is she there too? I'd be surprised if she wasn't. Well, your lover sends his regards, my dear. But I'm just afraid he's not so useful these days, especially with all of those chemicals in his system." Snow let out a dramatic sigh. "Well, that's all I have to say. May the odds be ever not in your favor, little rebels. Goodbye." The screen went black, and then there was a strange silence for a long moment.

Katniss was slumped against the wall, her head in her knees, murmuring to herself.

"They're not here," Finnick said in a quiet voice.

Gale stilled beside him. He knew that voice. That was the kind of quiet that Finnick got before he went a little mad. "Finnick-" Gale turned to him, but the older man was already losing control.

"They're not here," Finnick repeated, his voice getting louder and more hysterical with each passing moment. "She isn't here."

Gale swallowed. "Finnick, we have to-"

"She's not here!" Finnick shouted, slamming his fist against the device before he strode out of the cell and grabbed the sleeping Peacekeeper that he had knocked out.

"Finnick!" Gale shouted. "Finnick!"

There was a quick blur of motion as Finnick reached into his uniform and took out a syringe and vial of SFEA.

"What are you doing?" Ambrose asked curiously as he came up.

"Watch and learn, boy," Finnick said, not taking his eyes off of the syringe as he put the dose of SFEA inside and proceeded to plunge it roughly against the Peacekeeper's throat.

The Peacekeeper's eyes fluttered open and he smiled. "In District 13 already, are we?"

"No," Finnick snarled as he took out his knife and held it in front of the man's face. "I'll ask you one last time," he hissed. "Where did they take the prisoners?"

"You should really turn to your own," the Peacekeeper's malicious smile widened. "Do you think we just happened to know you were coming?"

"Shut up," Finnick said, now strangely calm. "Where are they?"

"You'll never find out," the Peacekeeper smiled, not the least bit alarmed that he had a knife so close to his face.

"Really?" Finnick asked, taking out his gun and shooting the man in the leg. The Peacekeeper let out a howl, and Finnick's lips twisted into a smile. "Now. Tell us what you know."

"Never!" the man yelled. "I'll never tell!"

"Your choice." Finnick gave a casual shrug before he brought the butt of his gun against the man's head and slammed it, momentarily knocking the Peacekeeper out.

"What was that for?" Ambrose frowned.

"He'll feel the pain because of the SFEA," Finnick said. "Three days of pain should be enough to crack him, and if it's not - well then, we have plenty of doses on stock, don't we?"

"Finnick," Gale said as he spoke into the audio device. "We have to go. They're going to bomb this building in an hour."

"So soon?" Finnick quirked an eyebrow. "What if we've been duped and they're actually still here?"

Gale shook his head. "They've checked every room on every floor, and there's nothing but supplies and Peacekeepers. They knew we'd be here. We have to leave, now."

Finnick sighed as he dragged the Peacekeeper out of the hole and into the night. "Very well." He reappeared a moment later, and shook Katniss. "Hey," he said. "Are you coming?"

She said nothing, and Gale stepped forward. "Katniss?" he asked in a soft voice.

There was no reply, and then she whipped her head up. "We were supposed to find them," she said quietly.

"I know, Catnip. I know. I'm so sorry," Gale said, then turned to Finnick, remembering what he had promised Katniss. "Can you bring her back to the hovercraft? I have to make sure the rest of the soldiers get out and we have to figure out who the dead prisoners are."

"I'd rather stay here," Finnick said in a hard voice.

"You've had enough," Gale shook his head and picked up the device from the floor. "Take the device with you and go."

Finnick paused, as though to say something in reply, but instead inclined his head. A moment later, he scooped Katniss up as though she weighed nothing and made his way through the hole.

"Put me down," she said softly. "I can walk, you know."

"Be my guest," Finnick replied as he set her down.

"You should take him along," Katniss indicated her head at the disoriented Peacekeeper.

"Like I'd forget." Finnick swung the man over his shoulder, and together, they made their way to one of the Rebel trucks that waited nearby to bring them back to the hovercraft.

"Finnick?" Katniss asked in a soft voice.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"What are we going to do with him?" She gestured towards the Peacekeeper that Finnick had swung over his shoulder.

"Hopefully we'll take a few more hostages who are more agreeable Peacekeepers than he is," he said, letting out a sigh. "But he'll talk. We'll make him talk."

Katniss nodded, and pointed at the night sky. "I see them, Finnick," she said.

He didn't need to ask what it was that she saw, for he already knew. "The Dioscuri," his voice was soft.

They made their way to the Rebel military trucks, getting in and letting themselves be driven back to the hovercraft. Finnick leaned against his seat and let his body slump, finally letting himself close his eyes as he buried his head between his knees.

Outside, the bright lights of Castor and Pollux, which were usually bright and shining, slightly dimmed. It was just the tiniest, slightest bit, but anyone who was looking at it and paying attention would have noticed.


	4. Part IV: The Infinite List of Reasons Wh

A/N: Thank you to everyone for your guyses feedback on the last chapter, I really do appreciate it!

Sorry I didn't clarify this in the last chapter (thank you to annony for asking), but a note about the flashbacks: no, they aren't all told in chronological order.

"_The artful Angler baits his Hook,_  
_And throws it gently in the Brook;_  
_Which the Fish view with greedy eyes,_  
_And soon are taken by Surpri[s]e._"  
— A Little pretty pocket-book, John Newbery

Part IV: The Infinite List of Reasons Why

"Stop!" the Peacekeeper howled as the trident skewered his chest. "Stop! I promise I'll talk, just stop! Please! Stop!"

Finnick made no move to retrieve his trident, but instead continually tossed a knife that lay in his right hand up and down. "Really?" he asked in a bored tone as he crouched beside the profusely bleeding man. "Because I have a feeling that you won't, little Capitol minion."

"I'll talk," the other man pleaded, gasping. "Please, just stop."

"What's your name?" Finnick asked.

"What?" The Peacekeeper blinked, clearly thrown off by this query.

"That's the first order of business if we're going to become well acquainted," Finnick said, his voice laced with contempt. "What," he repeated slowly, "is your name?"

"Joseph," the Peacekeeper said after a moment, coughing out blood. "My name is Joseph."

"Hmm." Finnick edged closer towards the man. "Joseph, is it? Are you lying to me?" he asked, his tone full of menace as he waved the knife in front of the man's face. "Because I think you are," he hissed as he plunged the knife into the Peacekeeper's chest, landing it right next to the golden trident.

Joseph (if that was really his name) let out a scream of pain. "Okay, okay!" he shouted. "Okay! My name is Naand!" he yelled. "Please!"

"Very good." Finnick gave him a malicious smile. "Score one for you, Capitol boy." There was a sudden, sharp rapping against the door, but Finnick made no move at all to open it or to turn around. "What?" he barked out, clearly irritated.

The door swung open and Gale came striding in, his pace slow and deliberate. "Finnick," he nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Finnick had stood up and was now busy lounging against the wall, lazy as a cat. "I've been given both clearance and permission directly from Haymitch to deal with this little Capitol toy here."

"Is it so wrong of me to join you?" Gale gave him a grim smile. "Carry on," he nodded.

Finnick let out a harsh laugh as he walked back towards Naand. "As you wish." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand before reaching down and quickly yanking out the golden trident, blood streaming out in rivulets the moment that he did so. "Would you like to be treated, Naand?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

The Peacekeeper nodded, "Don't lash me anymore." He closed his eyes in defeat.

Finnick smirked as he retrieved his now-bloody knife and threw it against the wall, not looking back as it clattered to the floor. "That's not really up to you to decide, is it, Naand?" he asked in a sleek voice before he rolled the Peacekeeper's body over so that the man lay on his stomach.

Gale saw now what he had failed to see when he had entered: the whip that had been thrown aside, the lash marks strewn all over the skin (or lack thereof) of Naand's back, a huge mess of dark red blood that seemed to splatter all over the place. Memories of his own whipping in District 12's town square clawed their way to the front of his mind, and he tried to shove them away, but the pain was fresh in his mind.

Finnick was laughing. "You know, Naand, I think we know your father. Gale!" he shouted.

Gale's eyes shot up. "What?" he practically growled out. He was in no mood to joke right now.

"You remember Romulus Thread, don't you? Porky, ugly fellow. Bulky." Finnick seemed to be laughing with amusement for one moment before his voice became nasty. "Capitol tool," he snarled out as he looked down at Naand.

"Why would I forget?" Gale asked, letting out a tired, weary sigh.

"Naand here is his _son_, aren't you, Naand?" Finnick's lips twisted into a huge smirk. "Naand Thread."

The Peacekeeper let out a loud cough, blood flowing out of his mouth, and he muttered something that Gale couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Finnick crouched down on his knees and bent down his head so low that he was almost level with Naand, but not quite. "I couldn't quite hear you."

The words "find out" "already knew" and "why bother" were all that Gale could catch as he slowly approached the beaten Peacekeeper.

"Oh," Finnick said, shaking his head. "Why did I pretend to not know who you were when I already knew?" he asked before he answered his own question. "Well, that's simple, isn't it? To find out precisely how truthful you are and exactly how useful you'll be to me." He paused for a moment, as though to contemplate something, and then he went on, "Now. Would you like to be treated, little Peacekeeper?"

There was another flow of incomprehensible words, but Gale could tell that the man desperately wanted it.

"You would, wouldn't you?" Finnick said, and now he seemed bored again. He had retrieved yet another knife from his coat and was now busy cleaning out his usually immaculate nails with it. "How many lashes did you take? Fifteen? Only fifteen, and you're broken already?" Finnick gave him a look of disdain. "Did you know that your father lashed Gale forty times and he didn't break? That's more than twice the amount you were whipped, and yet, you're so pathetic that you're begging after such an inconsequential amount? Pesky Capitol soldiers."

This, Gale thought, was not exactly the whole truth. He remembered passing out after about thirty lashes, and even before that, he had already given up the will to fight against it as the whip drove deep into his skin and the blood came spurting out of his new wound. He had been sure that he was going to die, and that knowledge was what had broken him. Then there had been Katniss. Running up so selflessly like she always did and letting herself get lashed across the face. Saving him. He would have done the same for her, no doubt, but what she had done - well, it wasn't -

The door clanged open, and Gale was abruptly yanked out of his thoughts. Two nurses came in, rolling a medical bed with them. Finnick picked up Naand as though he weighed nothing and placed him on the bed, waving a dismissive hand. "Get him out of here."

The nurses nodded, and then they wheeled the battered and bruised Peacekeeper out of the cell.

Finnick walked up beside Gale and put his left hand on his right shoulder. Together, they walked out of the cell, door clanging shut loudly behind them. As they made their way to the elevator, Gale shot a quick glance at Finnick, whom, he noted, was bloody all over. Face, arms, coat, t-shirt, pants, boots, almost every visible inch of skin - everything was splashed with a rain of dark red. Some of it was caked dry, but others were obviously freshly splattered.

"What?" Finnick asked when he caught Gale looking at him.

Gale shook his head. "What'd you get out of him?"

"He'll talk," was all the other man said.

Gale nodded, and was about to reply when they arrived at their destination. Nurses and doctors were busy running here and there, from one surgery to another, from patient to patient, room to room. Finnick led the way, leading Gale past a pair of clear sliding doors as they watched two doctors and a nurse treating Naand. A nurse who was extremely familiar.

"Hello, Madge." Finnick gave her an acknowledging nod as he and Gale both took their seats on a wooden bench.

"Finnick?" Madge asked, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of him covered in blood. "What happened? Did you-" She stopped as she swung her gaze to Naand, and then back to Finnick, who was calmly observing the busy scene before him, no emotion whatsoever on his face. Comprehension dawned on her face, and she blurted out, "_You_ did this?" For the first time since they had entered the room, Gale noted a hint of alarm in her voice.

"Are you surprised?" Finnick inquired calmly.

Whatever she was about to respond with was lost as one of the doctors asked her to go get some painkillers from the drawer.

Finnick rose, and walked over to Naand, whose back was being treated first. "Hello, Naand," he said, reaching into the depths of his coat and extracting a small knife. "Did you know the typical Career girl knows twenty different ways to kill you with this knife? I just happen to know fifty-seven," he said.

Naand laughed, coughing out more blood and splattering it across Finnick's t-shirt and coat as he did so. "You won't kill me."

"You're right," Finnick said. "But pain really hurts, doesn't it? I wasn't under the impression that you wanted some more pain, but I guess I was wrong," he shrugged before he plunged the knife into the deep hole that was already flowing with blood next to Naand's right shoulder blade, twisting the knife over and over again in quick circles.

The Peacekeeper let out a hoarse shout of pain that soon turned into a scream. The doctors looked uncomfortable, and one of them spoke up. "Mr. Odair, we understand that you wish to question this man, but right now if you want him to be alive when you do so, we need to start treating him immediately and you can't be coming and-"

Finnick held up a hand. "It'll be brief."

The doctors frowned and bent their heads together, whispering furiously and letting Finnick do whatever it was that he needed to do for a minute.

"Stop it," Madge said quietly as she came up beside him. "You're hurting him."

"And I don't know this already?" Finnick removed the knife from Naand's shoulder.

"Just stop it!" Madge suddenly shouted. "He's in pain, stop!"

"You have pity for this Capitol Peacekeeper?" Finnick queried, raising a single brow. Gale had always wondered how some people could do this. He always failed at his attempts to do so, instead raising both of his eyebrows. Perhaps he should ask Finnick how he did it later.

"Enough is enough," Madge responded. "Stop, Finnick. Please."

"Do you think they're as compassionate as you are about the hostages they've taken, Madge?" Finnick asked, his calm voice now filled with great displeasure. "Do you think their doctors treat them if they aren't needed?"

Madge's eyes looked murderous. "Stop it, Finnick. We're not the Capitol, and we're not going to stoop as low as they-"

Finnick took a step towards her, and he seemed to tower over her with his tall frame. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Madge." Then he reverted his attention back to Naand. "Now," he said, once more adopting a lazy and bored tone. "You want the pain to stop, do you? Tell me what you know, and it will. Where are the prisoners?"

Naand seemed to hesitate, but the moment he saw Finnick raise his knife, it all came out in a panicked stream. "They were being held at the hospital until we found out that you guys were coming to extract them, so now Snow's moved them to District 2."

"Very good," Finnick said in a condescending tone, as though he were a teacher congratulating a student. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it, Naand? What was the idea that Annie Cresta gave them?"

"I don't know." Naand shook his head. "I don't-"

"Really?' Finnick asked in a dangerous tone, waving the blood-streaked knife in front of the Peacekeeper's face.

"I swear, I don't know!" Naand croaked out. "Please!"

"Stop it!" Madge exclaimed, running towards Finnick as he plunged the knife yet again into the wound in Naand's right shoulder blade, twisting the knife and plunging it deeper. "Can't you see that he doesn't know anything? Stop it! Stop-"

Gale held her from behind, and she struggled against him. "Madge," he said in a quiet, calm voice. "We're leaving."

"Let go of me!" she hissed. "I don't know if you're deranged or don't care about what's going on here, but-"

Gale dragged her out of the room and down the hallway, disappearing from sight.

A few moments later, the doors slid open and a haggard-looking Katniss came in. She gave Finnick a nod as she made her way towards him. "Hey."

"Hey, Girl on Fire," he said in a quiet voice.

"I saw Gale dragging Madge out," she noted with a frown. "What's that all about?"

"She just doesn't like my way of getting information," Finnick shrugged as he plopped down on the medical counter. "Finds it objectionable."

"I guess that means she won't be so sweet on you anymore," Katniss remarked.

Finnick let out a surprisingly amused laugh. "We'll see."

"What'd you find out?" she inquired, bringing their conversation back to focus.

He got off of the counter and took out his knife. "Very boring information that confirms what we already knew." Finnick let out a breath.

"You whipped him pretty bad." Katniss indicated her head at Naand as she folded her arms.

"Not bad enough, it would seem," was Finnick's reply.

"Sir," a female doctor said as she approached them. "Have you had enough time? We need to start-"

Finnick held up his right index finger. "One minute."

She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it abruptly, nodded, and walked away.

"Naand," Finnick said, patting the Peacekeeper's head and ruffling his mop of black hair as though he were a puppy. "Little Naand Thread. Tell us what you know."

_Finnick's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he found Annie, who was already up, looking down at him. "Hey, beautiful," he smiled at her, voice quiet and a little disoriented like it always was in the morning. _

_Annie didn't respond, instead slowly tracing the contours his face with her fingers. "You're going to leave," she whispered. _

_He sat up, now very much awake, and he threw the silk sheets aside before he placed his hands in hers. "What are you talking about, Annie?" He didn't bother trying to hide the alarm in his voice. "I'm not going to leave you." _

_She gave a shake of her head, and then her eyes darted around, __saying__ what she would not__: t__hat the Capitol was listening to every word that they were saying, and she wasn't about to utter something here that could get back to their ears. So instead__,__ she uttered three words, "This year's Games." _

_Finnick's eyes widened for a second, and he knew that Annie knew his intentions. But they had to speak in code, of course, because of that idiotic Capitol. So he let a grin spread across his face. "I can't miss my chance to fight against the Girl on Fire." They had all made a promise, a promise to die for Katniss Everdeen. She was the Mockingjay, the representation of their rebellion, what had breathed life into a fallen warrior that was now ready to rise once more and fight against the Capitol. Everything that they had worked for now came to this, the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games. _

_Annie understood, of course. She was the one who had first spoken of rebellion after he had returned from his first Hunger Games, going angrily on at their secret lake about how they had damaged him and why on earth did they just sit by and let these things happen? She bit her bottom lip and then buried her face into his chest. "Come back to me," she murmured. _

_"I always will," Finnick said, stroking her beautiful hair with its many different shades of brown before he planted a kiss on the top of her head. _

_Annie drew back and crossed her arms. "Promise?" It was so quiet that it was barely audible, just a movement of her lips. _

_Finnick nodded, although he wasn't so sure that his streak of luck would keep going as it usually did in the Capitol. "Promise me something?" _

_"What is it?" _

_"The Dioscuri," he murmured. _

_Then he tackled her so suddenly that Annie didn't have any time to react as her back hit the soft bedspread and her head landed on the pillow, hair immediately fanning out. "Finnick!" she shouted, but she was laughing. _

_Finnick smiled as he hovered above her. "Find them and think of me__.__" __H__is fingers travelled across her neck as his lips __moved__ down to meet hers. _

_Annie nodded, and then she spoke into his lips. "Don't forget." _

_Finnick drew back suddenly, a mischievous smile on his face. "I found the Dioscuri, you know," he said. "At least, I think I did." _

_Annie r__aised__ her eyebrows before she burst out laughing. "Did you really?" _

_He nodded, his grin growing wider across his face. "I'll need your help," Finnick said in a very professional voice as he placed two fingers on the inside of her neck. "See, I think it's here." His fingers travelled down her body, reveling in the soft feel of her skin before they paused at her navel. "But see, I think it might be here as well." He splayed his long fingers across her stomach. "One can't be too sure, though. That's precisely the problem, isn't it?" _

_Annie let out a sudden shriek as he began to tickle her. "Finnick!" she laughed. _

_Finnick smiled, and then his lips met hers once more, and for a while, they forgot about everything but each other. No Hunger Games, no Capitol, no Rebellion, nothing but a piece of the world known as Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair. _

"Haymitch is probably going to scream at us when we come in," Katniss noted as they strode down the hall.

"What, for taking so long?" Finnick's gaze swung from the path to her.

She nodded. "Although he probably won't complain about - oh, hello, Madge." Katniss gave her friend a pleasant smile.

Madge returned the smile before he gaze swung up to Finnick. "You're clean now," she noted.

"That is generally what happens when one takes a shower," Finnick replied.

Madge shot him a miffed look. "Haymitch is expecting you."

"So we heard," Katniss nodded. "Well, I guess we'll see you around, Madge."

The nurse nodded, and then she went down the hall as Finnick and Katniss entered the meeting room.

"About time!" Haymitch boomed as they entered the room, looking up from his discussion with Plutarch Heavensbee. "Well, what did you find out?"

Finnick took a seat on the swivel chair closest to Haymitch, crossing his legs on the table. "Someone's been telling them information. The last that the Peacekeeper knows of, they were moved to District 2, but the Capitol isn't stupid. They're continually moving them from place to place in an attempt to keep us from knowing their exact location."

"That presents a problem, doesn't it?" Katniss crossed her arms and gave Haymitch a hard glare.

"What I want to know is why our source didn't know about this moving of the prisoners sooner," Haymitch frowned as he exchanged a glance with Plutarch. "Unless they already know who the source is and are just playing with us."

"Then it is no longer safe for our sources. It is time to extract them and put in new ones," Plutarch declared as he stood up. "I'll make the necessary preparations."

"Wait," Katniss said. "That'd be exactly what they expect, wouldn't it? Why don't we keep our sources in the Capitol for now but implement more? I mean, there's really not a lot of options that we have right now."

Plutarch considered this for a moment, then nodded as he sat back down in his chair. "We'll do that and then extract our current source when there's been enough time."

Finnick said, "You've both watched Snow's video, am I right?"

The older men inclined their heads.

"Naand really doesn't know too much. All he's been told is that they're injecting the hostages with a drug. What exactly, he doesn't know. We know Annie apparently came up with the idea, so they're not injecting her."

"Any idea as to what it might be?" Katniss turned her head to face him.

Finnick shook his head. "I can guess, but I'm not too sure. To make them fight? To kill them? To make them love the Capitol and loathe us? Those are all things that the Capitol would've thought up by themselves, though. I'm sure it's some kind of experiment, but what exactly I can't quite put my finger on."

Haymitch and Plutarch both frowned. "Time is of the essence here." Plutarch gave them a kind smile. "You've done very well, Mr. Odair and Miss Everdeen. We'll inform you when we have more news or assignments."

Finnick and Katniss gave simultaneous bobs of their heads. "Thank you, sir."

He gave them a dismissive nod and went back to a heated discussion with Haymitch.

"Well," Katniss said as Finnick removed his boots from the table and they made their way out of the room.

"Indeed," he said as he held door open for her and they walked down the hall to the elevator.

/ / /

Annie leaned on Johanna's shoulder, and the other young woman instinctively reached over and stroked her hand through Annie's hair while the other one reached out and gripped her hand. "You okay?"

Annie let out a laugh. "I should be asking you that question."

"They're going to come and move you soon," Johanna whispered, and her voice was filled with worry and a slight tinge of fear. "I have to-"

"It's okay," Annie said. "You're coming with me."

"No, I'm not." Johanna shook her head. "They're making me stay here."

Annie gave her a long look. "I told them that I wouldn't be moved upstairs unless you came with me. They don't want anything to happen to me right now, so they'll listen."

Johanna sighed. "Will they really let me come with you?"

Annie frowned. "I don't know. But maybe I'll see Peeta."

Peeta. They had listened to him scream, had held him as he saw figures that weren't there, watched him be tortured before the Peacekeepers had finally dragged him away one day and he hadn't been brought back.

Suddenly, their cell door was thrown open. The other prisoners either cowered against the walls, doing their best to disappear and go unnoticed, or drew themselves up and gave the Peacekeeper defiant looks. "You!" the woman who had opened the cell door barked out and pointed at them. "You two, in the back! Get up!"

Annie and Johanna stood up, making their way through the cell, their hands being squeezed encouragingly by the other prisoners along the way.

"Hurry up!" the Peacekeeper hollered. "Worthless District brats," she snarled when they finally reached her. She was about to shove them roughly forward when she looked at their faces and recognized who they were. "Annie Cresta, isn't it? Get moving," she snapped as she put her hand down and began to lead the way out of the prison. "Follow me, and don't even think about escaping," she huffed, obviously irritated.

Johanna shot Annie a look, but the young woman said nothing, instead staring into the space in front of her and giving Johanna's hand a tight squeeze.

_"Annie?" Mags blinked, the surprise spilling into her voice as she opened the front door. _

_"Is this a bad time?" Annie grimaced. "I'll just leave, I was only stopping by to-" _

_"Of course not__.__" __T__he old woman gave her a kind smile. "I just haven't seen you in a while, that's all. Come in, dear." _

_Annie nodded and crossed over the threshold, closing the door quietly before her as they made their way to the kitchen. _

_"... really wasn't expecting anyone, so I must say that I'm a bit surprised!" Mags was saying as she rummaged through the fridge. "Popsicle, dear? You look like you've just come back from the lake."_

_Annie shook her head and smiled as she set down her backpack on the tile floor and retrieved one of her textbooks. "I did, but it's all right, thank you." _

_The old woman hobbled over to the table and placed two cups of cool water__ on it__ just as Annie set her history textbook down on the table and began to flip to her homework assignment. "Well, you can't say no to water, can you?" _

_"No, I suppose I can't," Annie laughed, and she wrapped her fingers around the cup and took a sip before she placed it back on the table. "How is Finnick?" _

_"I thought you'd come around to that question sooner or later," Mags winked at her. _

_Annie colored at this comment, the blush spreading across her skin. "It's not the reason I came over." _

_"But you wanted to see him, didn't you?" the old woman grinned conspiratorially. "I think-" _

_The front door burst open, and the sounds of a high-pitched giggle and a low, throaty voice floated to the kitchen. "Well, I guess I got my answer__.__" Annie shifted in her seat and leaned back, closing her eyes, suddenly very tired. _

_Mags sighed, a worried frown on her face as she creased her brows. "It might be-" _

_Annie, however, was busy ignoring her and had now immersed herself in the very interesting history of Panem and the Old World that had come before. "Hello, Finnick," she said as she heard the footsteps edge closer to the kitchen. _

_She didn't look up as he entered the kitchen. _Don't look, don't look_, she commanded herself. "Annie?" he asked, the surprise evident in his voice. "What're you doing here?" _

_She flinched at that, but still didn't look up. She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of being acknowledged. "Mags invited me," Annie shrugged as she let the lie hang in the air. _

_"Isn't it such a lovely surprise?" the old woman smiled. "We haven't seen Annie in _ages_, have we?" _

_"Indeed," was all Finnick said. _

_There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and then the woman who was with him let out yet another annoying, high-pitched laugh. "Well, everyone is so quiet here!" _

_"This is Melanie," Finnick introduced her as Annie flipped a page in her textbook, very engrossed in how brutal and violent people in the Old World apparently were. "She's one of the stylists and is going to be here for a few days before the Victory Tour starts." _

_"Fascinating," Annie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she highlighted a sentence in her textbook about how criminals had run amuck in the Old World. _

_"Oh, isn't she sweet?" Melanie trilled, completely oblivious to the tension that was visible to everyone else. "You District 4 girls are such darlings! I wish I could just take you back to the Capitol with me and play with your hair all day!" _

_"She's pleasant, isn't she?" Annie snapped, her calm slowly breaking, but still refusing to look up. _

_"We'll be upstairs," Finnick blurted out, and then their footsteps slowly faded away. _

_Annie finally looked up and let out a sigh as she did so. "They should be occupied for the next couple of hours, shouldn't they? Enough time for me to finish this assignment and go home." _

_Mags reached across the table and squeezed the girl's hand. "You should tell him how you feel, dear." _

_Annie blinked, and looked as though she had just been caught doing something wrong. "How I what?" _

_Mags let out a little laugh. "Come, now. It's not exactly a secret, you know." _

_Annie's eyes darted around even though Finnick was clearly not within hearing distance. "Does he know?" she asked in a lowered voice. _

_Mags shook her head. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." _

_"I should hope so," Annie said, her voice laced with worry for a moment before she smiled. "So, what was she like?" _

_"Melanie?" Mags asked. _

_Annie nodded in response. _

_Mags chuckled. "Medium-height, rather large heels, makeup all over her face. Green hair, implants all over-" _

_"Just like the rest of them, then__.__" Annie shook her head, letting out a scoff. "How typical. Although - Melanie. That's quite an awful name, isn't it?" _

_Mags shook her head in amusement. "The worst," she agreed, a grin spreading across her face. _

They were led down a brightly lit hallway that was strangely empty and eerily quiet save for the sound of their footsteps. And white - it was everywhere. The uniform of the Peacekeeper, the walls, the medical trays that sat idly by, the lights, even the metal doors were the same color.

When they'd reached the end of the hall, the Peacekeeper opened the last metal door and barked, "Get in!"

They did so wordlessly, and were surprised to find themselves in a large room that was full of contrasting colors. Curtains decorated windowless space, and before they had any more time to take in their surroundings, they found themselves staring at the last person they'd expected to see in here. "Peeta?" Johanna blurted out as Annie took in his figure and the door was slammed shut behind them and the sound of a key turning in the lock was heard.

He struggled to sit up on the bed, and they hurried towards him. "Stay down," Annie said. "You need to rest."

He mumbled something incoherent and then slipped back into sleep, whatever the Capitol had pumped into his system obviously taking hold of him and dragging him back under.

_Annie, who had been home for an hour or two now, had just finished doing her math homework and was putting it inside her backpack. She rummaged through her bag to organize her homework from other subjects when she realized that something was missing, "Shoot," she muttered under her breath. How convenient that she should have to forget her history textbook and homework, especially today. She supposed that she could go and get it from Finnick's house tomorrow morning, but it wasn't too dark yet, so perhaps it was best to go now. _

_Mags, meanwhile, was busy adjusting her glasses as she plopped down on the couch and began to read the history textbook and homework that Annie had left behind. _

_"Hey," Finnick __said as he__ made his way down the stairs, Melanie following behind him. _

_"Hello__.__" Mags gave them both a smile as she watched them make their descent. "Did you have a nice time, Melanie?" _

_"It was mind-blowing," the Capitol stylist winked at the older woman. _

_"I should expect so," Mags gave her a patronizing smile before she went back to her reading. "Well, see you." She nodded as they headed out the front door. _

_Finnick returned about fifteen minutes later, putting the car key down on the coffee table before he asked, "Is Annie still here?" _

_Mags laughed loudly. "She left a long time ago, boy."_

_"Is she mad at me?" Finnick frowned as he took a seat next to her on the couch. _

_Mags shrugged. "Don't ask me. I have no clue as to what's going on between you two." _

_Finnick sighed. "I already asked her - wait, what are you reading?" _

_Mags turned to the cover of the textbook and laughed. "It's called 'An Educating History of Panem and the Old World: Integrated Studying' by-" _

_Finnick waved his hand dismissively and let out a laugh before his face became serious. "That's Annie's, isn't it?" _

_Mags smiled. "I suppose so, yes. It seems that she left this and her homework behind." _

_Finnick shifted. "You wouldn't mind if I walked over and gave this to her now, would you?" _

_"Not at all," Mags laughed, obviously amused by this as she handed him the textbook and the sheets of binder paper that sat on the coffee table. "There you go." _

_"Thanks__.__" Finnick gave her a bright smile before he rose and hurried out of the front door. He played the last time that he had seen Annie over and over again in his head. Nothing was wrong with that. They hadn't fought, but this time, she'd been clearly irritated by him. What had he done? It couldn't be that he was spending time with other women, was it? She'd made it very clear that she didn't care what he did with his extra time. So then maybe it was - wait. Was that her approaching him right now? He blinked once, to be sure, and then a grin spread across his face. "Annie!" he shouted as he stepped away from the Victor's Village and made his way towards her. _

_"I left my stuff at your house," she said apologetically. "You didn't have to come and-"_

_"It's no problem at all__.__" __H__e shook his head. "I've missed you." _

_Annie nodded, and then held her hands out to take her textbook and papers. "I should get going. It's getting late, and my mother will be worried if I don't-" _

_"I'll walk you," Finnick said suddenly. "I haven't spent any time with you anyway, and-" _

_"You're sure?" __S__he looked slightly taken aback. "You're probably busy, and it really isn't that long a walk back, so I-"_

_"Annie," he laughed, his voice insistent. "I'll walk you back." _

_She nodded, and then they walked, very slowly, back to her house. _

_There was a strange silence for a few moments, and then Finnick asked, "Are you busy this weekend?" _

_Annie blinked. "No__.__" __S__he shook her head. "I don't think so. Why?" _

_"Can I come and pick you up Saturday morning? I want to show you something," he smiled. _

_She knit her eyebrows. "Really?" _

_He nodded. "I think you'll like it." _

_"It's not another Capitol photo shoot, is it?" she queried. _

_Finnick laughed, shaking his head. "No. Well, not exactly. Sort-of, I guess." _

_She let out a groan. "I have to accompany you to another photo shoot?" _

_"There's something fun before," he said. "It'll be just you and me." _

_Annie made a face at him. "Do I really have to stay through this photo shoot?" _

_"Come on," he smiled at her. "It'll be fun!" _

_She seemed to be contemplating this very seriously for a minute or two, because she was awfully quiet. Finally__-__ "Fine. On two conditions." _

_"Oh?" Finnick quirked a single brow. _

_"Get me a copy of the magazine when they publish this photo shoot," she smiled. "I have to be able to make fun of how obsessed they are over you." _

_He laughed, and nodded his agreement. "What's the other condition?"_

_"I'll tell you later," Annie smiled, laughing with him now. _

_The stars above them twinkled in the night sky, shining upon them, bright and beautiful. If anyone had seen Finnick and Annie walking at that moment, they would have thought that they were a happy couple out for an evening stroll through the streets of District 4. _

The door swung open, and President Snow came striding in. "Hello," he smiled at them. "Have you made yourselves comfortable?"

Annie said nothing, although Johanna crossed her arms defensively. "Have you come to inject us with that drug again?"

"No," the President laughed. "Just you, Johanna. Now be a good girl and come get your shot, unless you want me to kill Peeta and Annie."

Johanna made no move towards him. "You need Peeta to lure Katniss and you need Annie because she's the one who gave you the idea for the injection in the first place. Don't bluff."

Snow's eyes darkened. "Do you really want to test me?" He strode over to Peeta's bed and took out a syringe before he pushed the plunger against the boy's neck. "One little dose of SFEA and he wakes up to me shooting his brains out. What's it going to be, Johanna?"

Annie mouthed the words "I'm so sorry", but Johanna shook her head. This would have happened either way. "Get away from him," she said loudly as she took a step forward. "I'll take the dose."

"That's a good girl," Snow smiled at her, his face brightening considerably. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it now?"

After he had placed the syringe in her hand, he turned to leave. "Aren't you going to at least make sure I inject myself with this?" Johanna asked.

The President laughed as he reached the door. "I'm giving you the freedom to choose when you wish to take it, my dear. Just don't take too long with your decision-making. Besides, the security cameras will be watching you, won't they?" The door slammed shut, and they were quiet for a few moments.

Annie pulled up two chairs next to Peeta's bed and took a seat in one, leaning into it. Johanna made her way to the other chair, and she felt Annie reach over and give her hand a tight squeeze. "How do you do it?" Johanna asked.

Annie looked over at her. "We promised each other," she said softly, not needing to explain, for Johanna knew. Finnick would come for Annie, would never stop looking for her, would never stop fighting for her. Annie had made him a promise that she would continue fighting, no matter what. As long as Annie thought of Finnick, there was hope, Johanna supposed. Maybe love really did make things easier. But maybe if Finnick had never loved Annie, the other young woman wouldn't be sitting here right now. Maybe she'd be busy fighting with the Rebellion in District 13. She'd be safe. So which one was better? To have loved and find yourself in danger now, or not to have loved at all and be safe?


	5. Part V: Ash & Smoke, Truths & Illusions

A/N: Have you guys seen the spoilers for Finnick and Annie for the first chapter of Mockingjay? I don't usually add random insertions that have nothing to do with the story into the A/N, but this! Spoilers after this part of the note so don't read if you don't want to see: (thank you to subtlynice at LJ for this!) ("Oh, and Finnick crying constantly over Annie... and Katniss saying she can't bring herself to feel annoyed at him because she's going through the same thing too... ") This! / has been smiling really hard for the past ten minutes or so /

Part V: Ash & Smoke, Truths & Illusions

Time went by. Seconds dragged, minutes went, hours passed, days turned into a blur, weeks flew by. Raid after countless raid ended up with fruitless results. Well, not exactly fruitless. There were prisoners caught, but never the ones that had been held with Annie or Peeta or even Johanna. None of them had seen them, and none of them were privy to whatever plan it was that the Capitol had and that Annie had apparently given fuel to.

Finnick and Katniss went into the raids now, every single time, never hoping anymore. The slightest flicker of it was just a tiny candle that was being blown out, but they refused to even acknowledge it. Perhaps it really was impossible, and maybe they really would never find whom they wished to find alive. It was almost like they were robotic now. Wake up, follow orders, eat, train, sleep (only Katniss, though), and then wake up once more and repeat it all over again. They had attacked dozens upon dozens of underground compounds, blown up buildings, raided delivery supplies, and had even once attacked the transfer route of the hostages. They had been so hopeful then that that would be the one that would bear fruit, but again, nothing. Snatching Capitol hostages went to nothing, either, because apparently, the Capitol didn't care for negotiations.

The Capitol wasn't stupid now. That hack by Beetee had been District 13's one chance to get into the Capitol. It would be a while before they were able to get into the Capitol so easily and so unnoticed once more. So for now, they were busy entering the outlying Districts and slowly working their way through, district by district, a maddeningly slow trek.

The sun had not yet risen as Katniss and Finnick jogged side-by-side in silence, none of them uttering a word. It was all silent communication now, and it was better than conversations that always just happened to turn back to the subject of Annie and Peeta or failed raids. When they were done, they would, as they did every day, go back inside the compound and head to the dining hall, where there were some people up. Most people knew by now not to bother them, because all that ever came out of their mouths were monosyllabic words or nothing at all.

This morning, they finished taking their breakfast trays and had sat down on a bench in the far right corner of the room. Katniss was absently stirring her soup and taking the occasional sip here and there before getting out of her seat to get a napkin. Finnick was busy ripping his loaf bread into tiny strips as he stared into the empty distance, and then further ripping those strips into tiny pieces that made a rather large pile in front of him. _I don't really understand this paragraph. _

"I hope you're going to eat that," came a quiet, kind voice from a figure that had slid next to him on the bench.

Finnick stopped mid-rip and looked down at the figure beside him, and for the first time in weeks, a genuinely happy smile came over his face. "Hey, Prim," he said in a dulcet voice. "What're you doing up so early?"

She laughed as he set down the strip of bread. "I came to give you a list."

He mussed her hair affectionately. "Oh? What kind of list?"

Prim reached into her pocket and handed him a folded slip of white paper, beaming at him. "Here you go," she said cheerfully.

Finnick unfolded it and cleared his throat before he began to read it aloud. "'The List of Reasons Why I Should Be Finnick Odair's Girlfriend, by Primrose Everdeen'," he lowered the paper and blinked at her. "You're serious?"

Prim frowned. "Is it really bad?"

"No!" he said hurriedly. "It's just so-"

"Hey," Katniss said as she came back to the table before she spotted her little sister. "Prim? What're you doing up so early, little duck?"

Finnick continued reading the list. "'One, I know how to make him laugh. Two, Lady has the best cheese, and when goats like her - hey! '"

He was interrupted by Katniss snatching the paper out of his hand. "Give me that," she laughed, and then her eyes quickly scanned the list, her eyebrows rising before she burst into a fit of laughter. She was soon joined by Finnick, who was crying with mirth.

"What's so funny?" Prim sniffed, trying to hide her smile. It was good to see the two of them laughing and smiling once more.

"You," Finnick grinned, "are adorable."

Prim crossed her arms, trying to appear as stern as possible, but she had never been good at hiding her smiles, and now it threatened to surface. "It's not funny, you know."

"But it is!" Katniss was clutching at her stomach.

Prim pointed at the pile of bread strips on Finnick's tray for permission to have some, and he immediately nodded. She set to work hiding her smile by chewing on the warm bread.

"Come on, it's funny," Finnick said as he turned to her.

Prim made a face at him before her face finally broke into a smile.

"See!" Finnick laughed, mussing her hair once more before he placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "That's our Prim!"

"So you'll consider it?" Prim inquired.

"Of course he will, little duck," Katniss smiled.

"Anything for you." Finnick gave her a conspiratorial wink.

It didn't seem possible for Prim's grin to get any wider, but it did. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" She wrapped her arms around him in a happy hug.

Finnick stiffened for a moment before he relaxed into her arms. This was Prim. There was nothing to fear. "Here," he said, handing her back the list.

"No." she shook her head. "Keep it. Remember, you have to consider my offer."

Finnick laughed, and then tucked the slip of paper into his pocket. "Thank you," he said softly.

Prim beamed at him as she relaxed her hold on him, and the three of them sat there happily eating their breakfast, moods much improved.

_Annie sat on the stadium bleachers, immersing herself in her very boring textbook as she asked herself once more why on earth she had allowed Finnick to drag her to yet another boring photoshoot. He seemed to think it was fun, of course, so she knew that he wasn't doing it to shove into her face how being beloved by the sighing women of the Capitol was obviously - what? What was it? Anyhow, she really couldn't bring herself to care anymore. Finnick was so different nowadays. It was as though the death of his mother had opened up a part of him that had been resisting before, resistance that was now futile. But that was what death did to people, right? It made things clearer for them, whether for better or for worse. But it was okay. This was his way of dealing with the pain of death, and if that was what he wanted, then so be it. _

_She wasn't about to ruin their friendship by pushing him away. But really, if she thought about it, he was the one who had pushed her away. Not that he seemed to know it, of course. It was like he couldn't help it. Besides, she didn't have any claim on him. There had never been anything between them, and probably never would be. Who was she to go around getting pissed at him for slutting around with Capitol women? He fit in with those people. Those perfect, happy, beautiful people without a care in the world. _

_"Hey!" Finnick made his way up the stairs and plopped down next to her, handing her a glass of cool mango juice. "What are you doing sitting here all by yourself? Come have fun with us!" _

_"No thanks__.__" Annie shook her head and gave him a smile. "I've got a lot of homework to catch up on." _

_He frowned. "It can wait, can't it?"_

_Annie let out a sigh. "Give me twenty minutes." _

_"Here, I'll stay with you and wait," he smiled at her. _

_"What?" __H__er eyes widened. "No, Finnick, you need to go finish up the shoot, and I really don't need help to do some reading-"_

_"I want to," Finnick laughed, and then he tucked a stray tendril behind her ear. "There." _

_"What was that for?" she blinked._

_"You had some loose hairs," Finnick smiled at her, his fingers still lingering at her ear. "So, what do you have to read?" _

_Annie cleared her throat and drew herself up. "A very interesting story in explicit detail about how the Capitol finally won their last battle against the rebelling Districts. Fascinating, isn't it?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. _

_"Annie," he said, giving a slight shake of his head through clenched teeth. "Not here." _

_She sighed. "What does it matter anyway? It's not like-" _

_"Please," Finnick implored her in a quiet tone. _

_Annie knit her eyebrows. "Why, Finnick. I didn't know you were so concerned for me." _

_"I always am," he frowned, suddenly finding himself angry at this suggestion of hers. "It's not a joke, you know." _

_"Do I?" she asked as she let out a breath. "Look, I can't concentrate. Let's just go down to that stupid photo shoot and get it done with so that we can finally leave in your stupid purple car."_

_"Are you mad at me?" Finnick turned to her, wondering why they were no longer the way that they used to be. _

_"How could I ever be mad at you?" Annie crossed her arms as she rose from her seat and set her textbook down. _

"No, not exactly," Finnick commented.

Gale rubbed a hand over his face as he listened to this newest proposal. "What I don't get is why they chose to implement that exact strategy all of those times-"

"We need to outsmart them," Katniss said simply. "They're always one step ahead of us, and not only does that makes us look like a bunch of idiots, it makes us all feel like it, effectively turning us into it."

Haymitch frowned. "That's not exactly a great boost for morale."

"Well, what would you have me do? We're failing every single time we go in!" Katniss exclaimed. "Do you expect me to feel very smart?"

"They're not failures, Katniss," Plutarch said in a gentle tone. "We've gotten people out of their districts and implemented permanent soldiers in their place."

"How is that any good?" Finnick inquired, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Finnick," Plutarch let out a sympathetic sigh, "is saving lives not enough for you? Is blowing up Capitol structures and stealing their supplies not to your liking? Is torturing-"

"No, it's not to my liking," Finnick snapped. "When I find the original group of Victors taken that has Annie Cresta and Peeta Mellark and Johanna Mason - then that will be to my liking. Tell me, when is that going to happen?"

_Finnick had shot her apologetic looks during the first twenty minutes of the shoot, but afterwards, he had his attention completely occupied and had seemed to have conveniently forgotten about her. The Capitol people were the exact kind of people that she despised, people that Celia Mayton and her band of followers would fit right in with. So she'd gone off by herself once more, not going back to the stadium seats, but to a row of benches that was far enough. It wasn't Finnick's fault, she knew. The Capitol had ruled long before either of them was born, and who was she to misdirect her anger __at__ him instead of the Capitol based on that? He was only trying to stop her from uttering words in a complex that was most likely bugged and that would get her dragged away and never __be __heard of ever again if the Capitol thought that she was a threat. Which she wasn't, of course. _

_Sometimes she just wished that - that what? That she and Finnick could go back to the way they used to be? To the days they would run to their lake and float down the water in the boat? He came to the lake and ocean so rarely nowadays that she no longer held out any hope that he would come. She was all alone on those days, floating by herself. But she didn't feel sorry for herself. It was so peaceful and beautiful there. Then what? To when they would train together for the Hunger Games? He had already won, and she knew that she had only to ask and he would help her, but what was the use? It wasn't like she was going to get chosen, and even if she did, there was a stream of girls in District 4 who would eagerly volunteer to take her place. _

_She just wanted him back, back to the days when they were just Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta, inseparable best friends. Not Finnick Odair, the prettiest, sluttiest Victor in the history of Panem who everyone was head over heels for, and Annie Cresta, his long-forgotten best friend that he only called on when he needed her assistance. _

_But that was too much to ask for, and it was a little bit selfish, wasn't it? He had lost his mother, and this was how he dealt with it. Immersing himself in the Victor culture of the Careers and Panem, what everyone had finally been waiting for him to do. The fame and the smugness that came with it - he was different now, that was for sure. Perhaps he didn't realize it, or perhaps the truth was that he really could bring himself to care less. No matter. _

_Now he was busy flirting with the stylists and the magazine writers and the director of the shoot. Finnick was no stranger to women fawning over him, and he had a cocky and lazy grin on his face as the current ones tried to outdo each other in vying for his attention, their hands feeling his body, moving across his skin as they attempted to feed his ego. _

_"Funny, isn't it?"__ came a voice from beside Annie._

_Perhaps she had been so busy analyzing Finnick that she hadn't noticed the person plop down next to her, or perhaps it was that she really didn't care right now. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She gave them a polite smile. _

_He was about the same age as her - perhaps a year younger, she would say. Slender build, short brown hair, insightful green eyes (nowhere near as gorgeous as Finnick's, of course, but then again, no one's ever w__ere__), casually dressed. He stuck out his right hand and a genuine smile spread across his face, "I'm Cinna." _

_She nodded, slightly impressed. He was nowhere near as irritating or artificial as the other Capitol visitors. "Annie Cresta__.__" __S__he gave him a smile as they shook hands. "So why aren't you busy drooling over Finnick like the rest of them?" She gestured her head. _

_Cinna let out a laugh as he released her hand. "Oh, he's not my type, and I have to say I don't think I'm his type, either." _

_Annie nodded, laughing despite herself._

_"You're his best friend, right?" Cinna smiled. "He was talking my ear off about you, so I came to see what the fuss was all about." _

_She couldn't help the quirk of her eyebrows. "He does?" _

_Cinna's eyes danced with amusement, as though he already understood something that she hadn't yet comprehended. "Of course." _

_"So what are you doing here? I don't know if this will be offensive o__r__ flattering, but you look a lot younger than the rest of them__.__" __S__he indicated her head at the women who were busy fawning over Finnick. _

_"My mother's the chief photographer and my sister's one of the writers," he said shortly before he gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Mom thought it might be a good experience for me, so to speak. An internship of sorts to tag along and see just how impressive Finnick is. Did he tell you __all the__ details of the shoot?" Cinna turned to her. _

_"He did, but I wasn't really paying attention." _

_Cinna smiled and shot her an inquiring look. "Tuning him out?" _

_Annie shrugged. "It's always boring whenever he talks about this kind of stuff. All I remember his saying was that it had something to do with Victors?" _

_Cinna nodded, and then launched into a full explanation. "Right. The concept is that in celebration of this year's Victory Tour, they're going to have a spread on District 4's best Victors, since last year's Victor came from your District. That girl, what's-her-name." he snapped his fingers, as though it would help him to remember the girl's name. "Cala-something. How do you pronounce her name again?" _

_"Calais Sylph," Annie said automatically, watching with interest as Cinna swung around his messenger bag and quickly retrieved a thick folder from it. Citizens of the Capitol so routinely used the latest technology that it was a bit odd to see one of them use something more non-traditional. _

_"Right," Cinna nodded, opening the folder and revealing a pile of papers that he began to arrange before he finally retrieved a colorful-looking one from the center and showed it to Annie. "She'll be in the center, and then the surrounding pages will have all of the other memorable District 4 Victors, each with a certain theme. In their element, I guess you could say." _

_"So Finnick would be what?" Annie leaned forward, very much interested now. "Surrounded by screaming fangirls?" _

_"In a sense, yes," Cinna laughed as he let her take the pages and examine them thoroughly. "There's an underwater theme throughout this shoot, since District 4's special__i__ty is fishing." _

_"That actually sounds like a clever idea for once," Annie said truthfully as her eyes roamed over the concept and appraised it. "Who came up with it?" _

_Cinna smiled. "I gave my mother the idea, although she'd never admit it. Anyway," he launched back into explanation-mode, "__i__ncluding Calais, it's going to be the top ten Victors from District 4, as voted for by the Capitol citizens." _

_"I bet Finnick came in at number one," Annie smirked. _

_He nodded as she handed him back the folder. "You're very right about that." _

_"So what are you guys going to do for Finnick's shoot?" she enquired. _

_"Well, it's based on what each Victor is known for," Cinna said shortly. _

_Annie laughed. "For Finnick, that should be his beauty, what an amazing physical specimen he is, and his slutting around." _

_Cinna grinned at her. "Precisely." _

_"I'm right?" __S__he quirked her eyebrows. _

_He nodded, then shot her a puzzled look. "Were you paying attention to the shoot at all?" _

_"To be honest, no," Annie replied. "That's not bad, is it?" _

_Cinna laughed. "Only if Finnick asks you later about what you liked and didn't like about the shoot." _

_Annie was silent for a few moments as she reverted her gaze back to Finnick. Then, "Do you think he ever gets tired of it?"_

_She didn't have to tell him what she was talking about - Cinna already knew. "I should hope so." _

Annie sat, watching the rise and fall of Peeta's form, listening to the steady beeping of the monitor that indicated he was still alive, despite everything. Her eyes flickered to Johanna, who sat silently on the blue carpet and absently toyed with the syringe in her hand. It was only a matter of time before she injected herself with it, Annie knew. From the distant look on Johanna's face, Annie would say that the other young woman knew it as well. It was strange. She should have been the one taking care of Johanna, being the older sister, but Johanna was the one who was protective of her, fifty parts genuine fondness and fifty parts a promise that the Victor had no doubt made to Finnick.

Finnick. Annie looked instinctively around the room for any signs of a window, but she already knew that there would be none. A window provided a means of escape, and the Capitol wasn't that foolish. The three of them were Victors, and even with an injured and heavily drugged Peeta, they would find a way to escape. A window would provide escape and a chance to look out at the night sky, a chance to look for the Dioscuri.

She was supposed to be insane. Insane. What did that even mean, anyway? That she should be put in a Capitol facility, locked up and prodded by doctors? Because that was most certainly what would have happened to her had she not made Finnick swear to never call the hospital ever again. But she wasn't as crazy as everyone made her out to be. She knew this herself. Or did she know? It got better with time, but one mention of the 70th Hunger Games, and she was sent pushing at the edge of sanity. Breaking things, screaming, crying - it was all relative, wasn't it?

_"They're going to do the underwater part of the shoot soon," Cinna commented as he checked his wristwatch. "Do you want to come see?" _

_"Why not?" __S__he gave a shrug of her shoulders as they both rose. _

_"Wonderful__.__" Cinna shot her a smile. "To be honest, the only part I'm excited about is the whole underwater thing." _

_"Not too fascinated in watching your sister put her paws all over Finnick?" Annie asked as they walked towards the others. _

_She'd expected him to be a little offended, but he just laughed. "I don't think any brother would be too pleased. Besides, it's just a phase. Hopefully she'll be over it and onto some other guy in a couple of weeks." _

_They reached a medium-height, frowning woman a few seconds later. "Cinna," she said, and Annie could see the resemblance. The same brown hair and facial structure, the- "Who is this?" Cinna's mother asked, but it wasn't in a displeased voice, merely a very tired and work-loaded one. _

_"I'm Annie," Annie smiled and stuck her right hand out. She really wasn't one for formalities and politeness with twittering Capitol idiots, but Cinna had been an exception to the rule, and it seemed like his mother wasn't so bad, either. "Pleased to meet you." _

_"She's Finnick's best friend," Cinna gave his mother a wink. _

_"Really?" the woman shook Annie's hand as her eyes swept Annie up and down, assessing her form. "With benefits?" _

_"No," Annie said shortly._

_"Unfortunate, isn't it?" Cinna frowned. _

_Whatever response his mother had would have to wait, because she was called back to the shoot for something about "creative vision", leaving Cinna to show Annie around. They looked at the pictures that had already been taken, laughing and making comments here and there. Annie saw a sort-of happy person when she looked at the photos. Finnick was having fun, and he really didn't need her right now. He only brought her here out of obligation, out of years of friendship. If not for that, she wouldn't be here, laughing as Cinna pointed at one photo and they smiled conspiratorially at each other. _

_The more she looked at Finnick, the more she saw it, this thing that she had tried to deny. They might have been best friends, but right now, he didn't need her, and she would be just fine without him. Looking at him, all smug and self-satisfied about women throwing themselves at him and so wrapped up in the Capitol - that wasn't who he used to be. People changed, not always for the better, but she knew that right now what they really needed was time apart. It was already there, though__t__, the time apart. Finnick never show__ed__ up to the lake or ocean anymore, something that before they had never, ever planned, but was always routine. Annie wasn't going to remind him; it was all up to him. She wasn't some love-sick Capitol fangirl who would be all teary-eyed and sobbing over the fact that she no longer had a friendship with Finnick Odair. District 4 girls were better than that. They were Careers, they were fighters, they were the Victors - the best of them all. They were strong, and she was strong. So what if she and Finnick were no longer as good friends as they used to be? People grew up - this was life, not some Capitol fantasy. _

Annie sat at the end of Peeta's bed, staring at him, wondering. Sleep was supposed to be peaceful, but he was murmuring, a tortured expression on his face. She reminded him of all those times that Finnick had come back from his first Hunger Games, how he had been fine at first. Then the nightmares had begun, and the beauty that peaceful sleep was supposed to give you was stolen from him. It was all the Capitol's fault, all of this. The way that he had thrashed in the sheets during the night, shouting, fighting whomever it was that he had killed in the Arena.

Just like Peeta was doing now. But Peeta wasn't shouting over that. He was shouting over that girl he was in love with, Katniss Everdeen, yelling at the Capitol or whoever it was that chased him in his dreams to let her go. Maybe she was just really-

"How is he?" Johanna came up beside Annie, a haggard look on her face.

At this point, it would have been fruitless to say something like "He'll be all right", because he wasn't. Both of them could see that. It was the antidotes and his will to live that kept him alive. Victors always fought the hardest to stay alive, and Peeta Mellark was fighting very hard right now.

_"Hey!" Finnick came bounding up to them, looking gorgeous, as usual. "So you two have met each other, have you?" He smiled at them. _

_"Yes," Annie responded. "Did you have fun today?" _

_"Of course I did," he smiled at her. _

_"I have to go check something with my mother," Cinna announced loudly, and true to his words, quickly disappeared. _

_"What do you suppose that was all about?" Finnick looked over his shoulder at the younger boy's disappearing form. A moment later, he turned back to Annie, a huge grin on his face. "So?" _

_"Well, I have to admit that it's the best photoshoot you've ever done," Annie replied as they walked. _

_"So, did you have fun today?" Finnick was looking at her in a very strange way. _

_"Yeah__.__" __S__he let out a breath. That was the truth, anyway. It hadn't been fun the entire day, but whose day was like that? Oh, right, the Victors' lives were. But she wasn't going to spend time being bitter or sarcastic. She thought about how Finnick had come to pick her up in front of her house, true to his word, how he had driven them around and then attempted to teach her how to drive. The only very boring part had been at the shoot, but she'd met Cinna, who was nice enough and was definitely an exception to the pack of Capitol idiots that usually came for Victor functions. It had been a fun day, overall. Nothing to complain about, if you conveniently forgot about her fight with Finnick when they'd been sitting up in the stadium bleachers. _

_"But you didn't have enough fun, did you?" Finnick seemed to be answering his own question. _

_"What?" she asked quickly. "No, Finnick, I really did-"_

_"I'm joking," he said. _

_"What?" Annie blinked. _

_Finnick began to laugh. "You're so serious! It's cute when you get so panicked and then your eyes do that thing where they-" _

_"You're laughing at my expense?" __S__he knit her eyebrows __together__. _

_"You're not happy," he said shortly. _

_"It's not that__.__" __S__he shook her head. "You just don't have to do all of this, you know." _

_"All of what?" Finnick asked softly. _

_She gave a wave of her hand. "The photoshoots, the Capitol events and functions - they make you happy, but I only really come along with you out of obligation." _

_"Obligation," he said in a clipped tone. _

_"Don't take it the wrong way, Finnick," Annie bit her lip. "I just..." _

_"You just what, exactly?" They had stopped walking now, and his tone was very serious as he crossed his arms. _

_"I don't need you to bring me to all of these things you like so that you can impress me or so that we can remain friends. We're very different people now, Finnick. And what you like and what I like are different things, so-" _

_"Hold on a minute," he frowned. "Are you breaking up with me?" _

_"What?" she blinked. "Finnick, we were never together, and I-" _

_Finnick held up a hand as he shook his head. "I meant our friendship," he cut her off. "Are you really going to throw away six years of-" _

_"We'll always be best friends__.__" Annie gave him a sad smile. _

_"Then what-" _

_"You don't have to pretend with me, Finnick," she said in a soft voice. "Really." _

_Finnick stared at her for a very long time, neither of them looking away. Maybe he didn't really comprehend it. Maybe he really thought that what he now enjoyed were things that she would find amusing as well. Maybe this was really over and he was going to go have a laugh about her with some other Capitol woman. Maybe she'd finally stop pinning her hopes on someone that she could never have. Maybe. _

_Finnick wished that he could tell her, though, he really did. He wished he could tell her that it all wasn't a facade. That this "slutting around" of his, as she liked to put it, wasn't all for naught. He wouldn't say that he didn't enjoy it, because he did. After his mother's death, he had turned into what everyone wished him to be, just another Career Victor who reveled in their fame and glory. But he couldn't tell her that something that she wished for so deeply, that the Capitol be fought against somehow, was exactly what he was working for. Right now she thought him a different person, and he was. But maybe one day he'd be able to tell her that he and Mags were part of the Rebellion, that they were all just patiently biding their time for some sort of trigger that would help their cause and stir the already restless citizens of Panem. Maybe one day he'd tell her that not all of the rumors were true. Maybe he slept around, but he didn't always do it. It'd be kind of strange if he just slept with those people who had vital information, so he had to do it with them all. Well, not all of them. A kiss here, a touch there - women in the Capitol ran around claiming that Finnick Odair had slept with them - everyone wanted a piece of him, but they didn't always get it. "It's not what you think," was all he said in reply. _


	6. Part VI: What Is It That You Ask of Me

"_Nothing is got without pain but dirt and long nails._"

—English proverb

Part VI: What Is It That You Ask Of Me?

"Please," Finnick began in a disdainful voice. "If you honestly think that-"

"Quiet," Haymitch snapped.

Finnick's lips curled into a sneer. "And why should I do that?"

"Will you two please stop arguing?" Plutarch looked up from his notes, clearly irritated. "It's extremely distracting."

"Clearly," Finnick snorted. "Tell me, when-"

Gale burst through the doors, panting. "Message," he breathed out.

"What is so important that you couldn't simply have sent us the report?" Haymitch sighed.

"Beetee," Gale panted. "Beetee says he can manage another hack."

"And this is relevant how? We don't even know where they are." Haymitch rubbed a tired hand over his face.

Gale shook his head. "Beetee knows. He hacked into their system."

Finnick leaned back in his seat. There was no hope anymore. Beetee might be clever, but who knew if this was some sort of Capitol trick? Then they would be lured into yet another false sense of certainly, only to have it all be for nothing once again. He wouldn't allow the little dance of joy that a tiny part of his heart was doing to take over him. "Does he know what their plan is?"

Gale nodded. "He does."

"Where is he?" Plutarch inquired.

"The control center, of course," Gale replied.

_Stop hoping_, Finnick commanded the voice in his head. _Stop hoping, just stop. Stop. Look at Katniss, and then it'll stop. _

Katniss sat, immobile save for the drumming of her fingers against the table. She looked like she was paying attention, but if you looked into her eyes, you could see that she couldn't be further away. Most people would say that the whole compound could blow up and she probably wouldn't notice; that was how lost she seemed to be in her thoughts.

Finnick knew better, of course. He put two fingers to her throat, and she seemed to spring to life, grabbing his wrist and readying to twist it before she realized who it was. "Oh," she said. "Hey, Finnick."

He gave her a twist of his lips that wasn't _quite _a smile. "Hello, Mockingjay," he said, his eyes dancing with amusement. "It seems we have another false alarm."

"Fascinating." She gave him a wry smile.

"Isn't it?" he quirked a single brow, then shifted his gaze to Gale. "Well? Are we going?"

"Of course we are," Haymitch said in a weary voice.

_Annie gave him a long, hard look, as though she were trying to discern something. Finnick was pleading her with his eyes, telling her that there was some sort of secret that he couldn't tell her, but that it was important and that he hoped she understood. Maybe one day she'd finally get what it was. But they did need time apart, she knew. "I'll see you around__.__" __S__he gave him a small smile, and then she made her way away from Finnick Odair. _

_He didn't stop her or attempt to go after her. Maybe, Annie thought, he was really okay with it. She was going to be __fine as__ long as threw herself into her studies and took a very keen interest in them. _

_Cinna caught up with her as she bounded up the stadium to get her textbook. "Hey," he said in a careful voice. "Are you okay?"_

_"I will be__.__" __S__he gave him a truthful smile as she gathered her textbook and tucked it under her arm as they headed down the stairs together. "I had fun with you today," she smiled, and it was true. _

_Cinna grinned. "So did I. Hey, listen, are you friends with any of the other Victors? Mags, perhaps?"_

_She quirked her eyebrows. "How'd you know about Mags?" _

_"Finnick__.__" Cinna gestured his head towards the aforementioned figure, who was __deep __in discussion with a short, purple-haired woman. _

_"Did he tell you everything?" Annie frowned. _

_"I have no idea," Cinna laughed. "Do you see Mags often?" _

_"Often enough," Annie replied. _

_"Well then," he said, jotting down something on a slip of paper that he had pulled out from his messenger bag. "Here's my number, if you need someone to talk to. Mags doesn't mind you using her phone, does she?" _

_"Not at all," she smiled, and then shot him a suspicious look. "Why are you being so nice to me?" _

_Cinna gave her a conspiratorial wink. "Why not?" _

_"You're not..." Annie paused, attempting to find the right word, "interested" - there it was - "in me, are you?" _

_His eyebrows shot higher than she'd thought possible. "What? No!" he laughed, shaking his head. "Annie, I can see why Finnick thinks you're beautiful, but you're not my type." _

_She crossed her arms, not fully convinced. "If you think I'm just another District girl who's going to fawn over someone from the Capitol, you've got another thin__k__ coming. In case you haven't noticed, this is District 4, and we're not so easily impressed as some of the other-" _

_Cinna laughed, clearly amused by this. "Annie!" he exclaimed as he clutched at his stomach. "I'm not interested!" _

_She still wasn't fully convinced. "You swear?" _

_"I _promise_," he smiled at her. "Really." _

_Annie made a face at him. "And why should I believe you? How do I-" her eyes widened as comprehension dawned across her features, and then she flushed. "I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner!" _

_"What?" __H__e r__aised__ his eyebrows as he attempted to cover the sounds of his laughter. _

_She put her face in her hands. "I'm so embarrassed," Annie mumbled. "Sorry for being such an idiot." _

_"Don't be__.__" Cinna shook his head, a smile breaking across his face. "Come on, Annie. Put your hands down. I can't see your face, you know." _

_"Promise you'll stop laughing?" __S__he peeked at him through her fingers. _

_"I'll try," he __chuckled__. _

_Annie put down her arms before she crossed them defensively. "I really didn't know, you know. I mean, for a moment, when you made that comment about Finnick not being your type, I thought that you might be gay, but I wasn't sure." _

_"I know," Cinna laughed as they made their way down the steps. "So you're fine with calling me then?" _

_"Of course," she smiled. "And you can call Mags if you have anything to tell me or just need to talk, you know." _

_"All right," he nodded. "Thanks." _

"You don't have to do it, you know," Annie said softly as she fixed her gaze on Johanna, who was busy toying with the syringe. "We'll be okay."

"Snow doesn't make threats that he doesn't plan on acting on," Johanna replied, a sad look in her eyes. "I have to do this."

If it had just been herself at risk, Annie would already have grabbed the syringe from Johanna and crushed it with her foot. But Peeta. Think about Peeta. There was no doubt in their minds that once Snow had enough fun with the boy, he'd kill him. And neither of them could live with the fact that they'd been the reason he'd died earlier than he was supposed to. "If that's what you want." Annie rested her cheek in her palm.

Johanna shook her head. "It's not what I want. But I'm not going to let either of you die, either."

Ha. Imagine that. Johanna Mason, District 7, doing something that she doesn't want because she wants to save others. She might look like a selfish, fierce bitch, but in reality, Annie knew that it was an exterior that she'd carefully crafted around her, never letting many people in. Because inside, she was just another broken, sad girl. A little bit like Finnick. The female version. That made Annie smile as she thought of him. He would come for her, she knew this. They had promised each other, and Finnick Odair never broke his promises.

Annie reached over and put her hand in Johanna's, giving it a tight squeeze. Johanna was clever enough. She'd figure out a way to get the injection out of her. She'd done it so many times already, how could she fail to do so this time?

Johanna gave her a haunted smile, and then she drove the syringe inside her arm. Annie watched the plunger, watched the agonizingly slow rate it was going at despite the fact that Johanna was evidently injecting it as quickly as she could.

Annie hated syringes. She remembered all of the times that she had been at the hospital, and she hated it. She remembered Finnick banging on the glass, Finnick screaming for her, Finnick shouting at them to not touch her, Finnick being dragged away as she was treated. Why did he even love her? Perhaps she could ask him that when they were together again. Annie closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly as though she were a small child who did not wish to witness something frightening that was taking place in front of her.

_When she came home from school two weeks later, she found it lying on the kitchen table. A large manila envelope that, when she opened it, held two glossy magazines and a note tucked inside, a note that had no name or signature. But she would recognize Finnick's messy handwriting anywhere. All it read was, "Cinna told me to give you an advanced copy, but I already promised you one, so there's two, as you can see." Then, there was a huge gape of space that had several crossed-out phrases such as "__Miss you__" and "__We need to talk__" and "__Can we__" before finally, at the bottom of the paper, Finnick had scribbled out, "You still have to tell me what the other condition was." _

_Despite it all, Annie smiled. _

"Finnick?"

"Yes?" He gave Prim a small smile that he reserved only for her. "What is it?" Finnick mussed her hair with his hand.

She had a very serious look on her face. "Can you promise me something?"

The smile immediately vanished from his face. "I can't guarantee anything, but I can do my best to try and do whatever it is." Finnick wasn't stupid; he had a pretty good grip on what it was that she was going to ask of him.

Prim bit her bottom lip. "Can I have an ice cream?"

The relief on Finnick's face was evident. "Of course." His face broke out into a huge grin.

_There's one more thing_, she thought as they made their way to the kitchens. _One more thing that I won't ask him until we sit down and eat. _"Are you guys going on another raid?" she blurted out.

He inclined his head. "How did you guess?"

Prim gave him a small smile. "You have that look on your face."

Finnick laughed. "What look?"

_The one where you look like you want to hope but are too afraid to._ "The one where you sort of just glare at everyone," Prim chirped out. "It's very scary, you know."

"I do not!" he said in an affronted voice.

"Yes, you do!" she insisted. Finnick swooped her up in his arms and slung her over his shoulder so suddenly that Prim barely had time to let out a loud shriek. "Finnick!" She laughed, pounding her fists against the shoulder blades of his back. "Put me down!"

"Not until you take it back," he winked at her, his voice teasing.

"Fine," Prim huffed, although she was laughing. "You don't have that look. Happy now?"

"No," he grinned at her.

"No?" she exclaimed. "Finnick, put me down!"

"Once we get to the kitchen, I promise we will," he winked at her.

_The rest of the Districts might live in poverty, but not the Careers, those Districts with the most Victors. All right, so the rest of the District__s__ other than th__ose__ which were frequented by the wealthy Victors were usually very run-down. But these parts, these Victor-reserved parts, were almost like the Capitol, or so it was said. When you have a lot of Victors, you have a lot of wealthy people who have money to waste and time to throw away. They become bored very quickly. They complain to the Capitol visitors, who of course are so besotted by them that they have to run back to the Capitol and tell about how their poor Victors are suffering. So then, more places are built. Places for the beloved Victors to enjoy while the poor people of the District are told, "Aha! See how you suffer? They have won, gone past it, and if you wish to escape your poverty, that is what you must do. It's very easy, really, isn't it?" _

_So that's why you're standing here now, in this underground (well, it's not really underground since the Capitol knows about it, but of course, some people would like to think of it as a very creative endeavor) nightclub, seeking Finnick out. It's not as though you haven't been here before. No, you're not a wild girl. You're more the type who stays at home and reads a book, and only goes out if it's to explore nature or to train for the Hunger Games. Very boring, aren't you? But you don't care. So then why are you here yet again? Oh, that's right, you come here to see what exactly Finnick gets up to. No, it's not stalkerish, because he invited you to come, but you always turn down his invitation (or show up and don't let him see you). There's nothing wrong with you seeing what exactly it is that Finnick finds so interesting nowadays. There he is, sitting on a deep blue divan now. _

_Look at him when he doesn't know that you're looking. Take a minute to admire the way that he's built, what an amazing physical specimen he is. The way the lights catch the bronze curls of his hair. The laziness in his sea green eyes, eyes that currently hide how alert he usually is. His hands. Watch his hands. Watch how the long, slim fingers tap against each other, back and forth, an indication that he's bored. Hands that have killed, hands that are deadly. A killer and a lover, that is what he is. Each lust-inducing touch of his skilled, nimble fingers could just as soon turn into the very last moment of your life, the last thing you remember._

_Remember when he used to have nightmares (well, when you used to be there to witness the nightmares, since you know that he still has them, even now)? Do you remember watching him sleep? Do you remember before he left for the Hunger Games, when his sleep was peaceful? Remember the rise and fall of his chest, the soft breathing, the way he used to smile, how he used to look so young. Remember after he came back and the nightmares followed him back home to District 4? There would be soft, even breathing at first. Then there would be the twist of his beautiful lips into a frown. No smiles now. Frowning, and then the murmuring would begin. Murmuring that would turn into him thrashing in the sheets. Thrashing turned into shouting, sometimes screaming, and then you would shake him awake. _

_Remember the wild look in his eyes, how his erratic, heavy breathing would eventually slow down as you held his wrists, as you told him that it was going to be all right. Remember the sweat that lined his forehead. Remember how thankful his eyes were, how thankful he was that he had you as his best friend. Do you remember that? Remember it. Remember. _

_Because look at him now, with all of these women fawning over him. Why did you ever come here in the first place? Oh, right. Because he's invited you and you've usually turned down his invitation. What fun is it to watch your best friend get it on with a bunch of admiring fangirls? Yeah, not very fun. But watch him now. Watch. Watch the irritated, bored look in his eyes as he moves the glass in his hand in tiny circles, the ice in it moving here and there. Watch the very slight tense in chords of his neck, the quick tensing of his jaw. He is irked right now. Watch the lazy sitting position he's in. Like a cat. Some kind of exotic, dangerous cat. Maybe a merman or something. Something from the Old World. Look at the women who are busy undressing him with their eyes. One of the women is running her hand oh-not-so-subtly across his t-shirt right now, a t-shirt that easily shows his beautifully built frame and the sculpture of his chest. _

_Do you desire him? Of course you do. It's hard to meet a woman who isn't attracted to him, a man who isn't immediately envious. That is precisely the reason you won't tell him what you feel. Because you know how quickly he goes through women. Like tissue paper. Like they're nothing. Nothing special, nothing worthy. And you'll never let yourself be that. So you'll stand by, always there for him, always that girl - the best friend, the one who can get away with things that others can't. The one who can poke fun at him and critique and shout and yell and fight and do all sorts of things. _

_You wonder if he'll ever look at you with love that conveys true, real love, something that your parents had. Sometimes, you think you've seen a flicker or two of it in his eyes, but you can't be sure, and you're not fool enough to risk it. You'll never get what your parents had by telling him how you feel, and besides, what kind of idiot goes on ruining a friendship by confessing their love when the other person is clearly interested in other people? Then there's the truth of it. You won't tell him because you can be __so __open with him, but this is the one thing that you have to hide from him. Maybe others, like Mags, can see it, but he clearly can't. Either he can't or he doesn't realize it or it's that you've eradicated that idea so fully from his mind that he really has no idea. _

_Besides, everyone has secrets. So why not let this one be yours? Finnick Odair knows nearly everything that there is to know about you, save this. He knows that you find it irritating you can't raise a single brow the way that he can. He knows your favorite things - which color, which book, which day. He knows your dreams and hopes. He knows (well, actually, he says this since you don't really believe this yourself) what a beautiful creature you are in the water. Like a nymph or a mermaid or a Siren or some water creature from the Old World. He says that you're beautiful. Once, in his sleep, he told you that you were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, the best person he knew. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it supposed to be some sort of declaration of "Yes-we're-friends-but-I'm-actually-crushing-on-you" (highly doubtful) or "I just realized how important you are since I came back alive from the Hunger Games. We're best friends, and that'll never change. I've really missed you" (Yes, that's more like it). _

_So that's your secret. Besides, you already know that he's hiding something from you. You don't know what it is, exactly, but you'll pinpoint it eventually. It's hard to be best friends with someone for six years and not know when they're keeping a secret. _

_The final thing is that Finnick Odair finds inexperienced girls boring. Girls who don't know what it's like to have a lover, to be a lover, to touch and feel and sigh. And what are you? Exactly that, an unexperienced girl. If you weren't his best friend, he wouldn't even give you a second glance. So what does that make you? Not his type. Exactly. Yes. Precisely. Time to leave before he notices that you're here, watching. Or maybe he already knows, he just isn't letting it on. You never know. He's very perceptive. Enough of that now. Go. Go home. Come back another day. Better yet, don't come back at all. _

"Where's my sister?" Prim asked as she swung her spoon into the large sundae that she and Finnick were sharing. It was a strange delicacy, ice cream. They hadn't had it when they'd first set up, but all of these raids on the Capitol had brought them a seemingly endless supply of food.

"Getting ready," Finnick replied absently as he picked the cherry from the top of the sundae and placed it in his mouth.

"Aren't you usually with her?" Prim frowned.

"How observant of you." The cherry swirled as he rolled it around in his mouth.

Prim didn't hide the worry in her voice. "Is she okay?"

"No," Finnick said truthfully as he bit down on the small red fruit, the crimson color swirling in his mouth as he reveled in the taste of the sweet juice. There was no use in lying to Prim. This whole Rebellion seemed to have sped up the rate at which she should have matured. She was an innocent child, but that innocence was scarred now.

"Are you okay?" Prim queried.

"No," he repeated.

"Are you going to be okay?" Prim continued.

"I don't know," Finnick responded in an achingly honest voice.

"Take care of her for me?" Prim asked, and her voice sounded so small and worried and lost that Finnick stopped mid-chew and set his spoon down.

"Listen to me," he said, his long arms reaching across the table until his fingers rested reassuringly on her shoulder. "I always do."

"I know," Prim swallowed, a sad look on her face. "But can you take care of yourself?"

"You don't need to worry about me." He gave her shoulder a soothing squeeze.

_Oh, but I do_, she shook her head, knowing that she wouldn't be able to convince him of this.

_Annie made her way to the back of Finnick's house, past the shimmering pool and near the neatly trimmed shrubbe__ry__. She quickly checked the status of his window before she gathered a couple of large rocks from the ground. The window was half-open, which meant he might hear her or he might not, but she supposed they'd see. She'd rather it be closed, but things in life never really went the way that you wanted them to, did they? _

_She threw the first rock, and it made a loud sound as it slammed against the window pane before bouncing back and dropping into the pool. Annie edged closer and threw the second rock, this time watching it disappear through the open window and into Finnick's room. There was the sound of it crashing into something, and she winced, hoping that it hadn't hit Finnick. Just in case, she settled for the small pebbles, and was busy aiming them at his window, watching some of them go into his room and some of them hit the glass and fall to the ground. _

_There was the sound of a throat clearing as she knelt next to the shrubbery to pick up some more pebbles, and then Finnick said, "How long were you planning on doing this, exactly?" _

_Annie set the pebbles back down on the grass and grinned at him as she made her way past the pool. "I see you're awake." _

_"You get my delivery?" Finnick asked, the moonlight capturing him in a perfect monochromatic portrait as it beamed its rays across him. _

_She nodded wordlessly in response. _

_"So this is your other condition? Throwing rocks at my window?" Finnick crossed his arms as he leaned out the window. _

_Annie laughed. "Do you want to go out?" _

_He rose a single brow. "Now? At this time of night? It's two in the morning." _

_"Why, are you not up to it?" she teased. "Or is there someone in your room?" Annie gestured toward his current shirtless and disheveled state. _

_"I was sleeping," Finnick said shortly. "Let me get dressed and meet me at the front door in one minute?" _

_"So you _are _man enough to go out," Annie laughed. "I'd wouldn't have realized it, you know." _

_Finnick's retort was lost as she made her way to the other side of the house. Less than a minute later, he swung the door open, not even letting it slam shut before he turned to her, a grin on his face. "So. Where are we going?" _

_"You'll see," Annie said softly as she made her way down the steps, a smile on her face. _

_And so they walked out into the night, the stars shining down on them, two people who desperately needed each other but would never admit it out loud. _


	7. Part VII: This & That, Here & There  Wh

A/N: There's no way this is going to all be out before _Mockingjay_, but it's been fun trying. Hopefully this should be done before the whole week is over, though. / crosses fingers /

"_We are, largely, who we remember ourselves to be. That's why habits are so hard to break. If we know ourselves to be liars, we expect not to tell the truth. If we think of ourselves as honest, we try harder._"

-Cassel Sharpe, _The Curse Workers_

Part VII: This & That, Here & There - What? Three For One, Did You Say? 

_There are many things that Finnick Odair does not understand, nor __does__ he pretend to comprehend them. But the most unfair of all is that the world should have to be so cruel to him, even when all that was left of his hope was a diminishing __candle__ that was just about to be blown out. _

_But, my dear listeners, let us begin approximately five hours before our dear anti-hero's soul was torn to shreds. It is not the beginning of the story, nor the end, but somewhere in-between. Not quite the middle, perhaps a little bit over, but __at __exactly what point this happened is not of any consequence. At the moment, anyway..._

"It's a beautiful night," Katniss said softly as she stepped out from the inside of the hovercraft and out onto the balcony.

He didn't turn to look at her as she took her place beside him. His fingers gripped the railing even tighter than he thought possible, despite the fact that he was not afraid of falling down and meeting his demise. "It's morning, Everdeen," he said tonelessly. "Surely they taught you the difference between night and day in District 12?"

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her entire body was taut with tension. "Lighten up, Finnick." It was so strange that their roles were reversed now; how he used to be the one to make her laugh in the Arena. Now she was the one who was trying again and again to make him crack a smile, but it was such a rare thing these days - a true, genuine, smile from Finnick Odair.

"I can't," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"We're going to save them." Her voice was fiercely determined, as though she wanted to believe what she was saying.

"You can't know that." He didn't want to look into her eyes and see the reflection of who he was - tortured, frustrated, ready to lash out, and with everything to lose today.

"Can't I?" She let out a loud sigh.

"Perhaps." Now he did turn to look at her. "And perhaps not, Everdeen. It all depends, doesn't it?"

"On what?" She stared at him, her eyes unforgiving and hard.

"I'll let you figure that one out." He brushed past her and went back into the hovercraft.

"Finnick!" Haymitch boomed seconds after he came inside. "Where the hell have you been? We've been looking all over for you!"

"Outside," he shrugged.

"Damn it, Odair," Haymitch swore under his breath as he turned around and gestured for Finnick to come with him. "We can't have you ready to jump off the hovercraft and die before we even reach the Capitol."

"Is that a problem?" He arched a perfect eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that you were so concerned for my well-being, Abernathy. In fact, if I remember correctly, you didn't mind when I-"

"What the hell is it with you and people's last names?" Haymitch grumbled as Finnick wordlessly followed him. "There's a message for you from the Capitol."

That stopped him short. "What?" he blinked. His breath felt caught in his throat, his heart was thumping madly against his chest, and suddenly he was hyperaware of his surroundings.

"We haven't got any time to waste, do we?" the older man snapped irritably. "Now hurry up."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Finnick snarled right back.

"If we hadn't been so occupied looking for you, we might have!" Haymitch turned a corner and opened a metal door. "In here," he indicated.

Finnick walked inside, trying to steel his nerves as the door shut behind him, doing his best to keep his face blank. There, projected via a small device, stood President Snow. Well, he wasn't really standing, since he wasn't really there. But he could see everything around him, and his eyes lighted up maliciously the moment he spotted who had walked into the room. "Ah, young Odair!" he exclaimed cheerily as though they were the best of friends. "Arrived at last, have you?"

"What do you want?" he asked in a carefully neutral voice, doing his best to sound extremely bored.

"Well," President Snow adjusted the rose pin on his suit carefully, "it seems that we have something of yours and you have something of ours."

"Oh?" Finnick raised his brow. "I wasn't aware of that."

President Snow's cold and calculating smile, which would have sent shivers down most people's backs, simply irritated Finnick. "Bring her in," he called to someone in the background.

_That_ made Finnick freeze, and he had to dig his fingers into his arms to keep from shouting out loud. The screen went black for a moment, and all that they could get was audio. There was the sound of a few shouts, and that familiar voice that made his heart ache, that he dreamed of at night. "Get your filthy hands off of me, you pathetic Capitol bastard, I already told you that I'll never tell you what I know, get the fu-"

"Annie," Finnick breathed out.

"Quite the dirty mouth your lover has, Finnick, wouldn't you say so, my good man?" He could practically hear President Snow grinning in malicious glee at him.

"Let go of me!" she shouted to the guards who were dragging her in.

"Hello, sweetheart," the President smiled at her as she was shoved rather roughly into a chair, and then the video stream came back on. Finnick could see that she was sitting in a low chair but was mostly covered by a high table, one that only gave him a view of her from the shoulders-up. Her back was turned to the screen, her beautiful hair spilling down her back, and he ached to reach through and run his hands through her beautiful hair, to comb it with his fingers.

President Snow was standing besides her. "I have someone here who is just dying to see you." At that, Annie spat in his face, and Finnick smiled at that. That was his Annie. Always fighting. "Turn around," President Snow said, sounding amused.

"You think that just because I'm-" She froze as she did, and her eyes widened once she saw who was on the other side. "Finnick?" she asked after a few moments, her voice incredulous.

"Ah, isn't this sweet?" The President clapped his hands together with malicious glee. "The two lovers from District 4, reunited at last," he said in a sing-song voice, and then stopped short, his voice suddenly very serious and very malicious. "Or not." He paused for a moment. "You see," the President went on as Finnick's eyes met Annie's, as the look that she was giving him conveying more than words could ever say, "there's a reason we kept your little insane girl alive."

"She's not a girl, Snow," Finnick said. "Really, I didn't know you were as stupid as you seemed."

The President burst into a stream of laughter. "You're rather arrogant, Odair. That's why I like you so much."

"I wasn't aware that you liked anyone," Finnick snapped.

"You're so discriminatory," the President chortled. "Really, you flatter me."

"Didn't you summon me to talk business?" he asked. "I'd say introductions were far past over."

"And to have all of the fun over so soon?" the President frowned. "Really, Finnick. I'm disappointed in you."

"Stop wasting my time," he said cooly.

"Very well." The President let out a dramatic sigh. "As you wish. Let us proceed to business."

"Well?" Finnick asked, waiting.

"The Capitol is in possession of something that you want," Snow smiled. "And you - well, the silly little Rebellion is in possession of something that we want, isn't it?"

"Katniss Everdeen," Finnick said simply as he inspected his nails to see if there were any fillings underneath, projecting the perfect epitome of boredom.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you!" the President laughed, clapping his hands in delight.

"So you want a trade? A tit-for-tat?" Finnick looked up, his voice indifferent.

"Clever man," the President winked. "Now. Give me Miss Everdeen, and I'll give you Annie Cresta here."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Finnick asked.

"No." The President shook his head. "I think you're desperate. Those are two completely different things, although they often go well together, don't you think?"

"And if I refuse?" Finnick didn't seem interested yet.

Snow laughed. "Oh, you won't once you realize that I'm going to kill your lover, along with your friend Johanna and that little puppy known as Peeta. Surely Miss Everdeen isn't worth more than the three of them combined, is she?"

Finnick knew that the President wasn't bluffing, but he said nothing for a long moment, letting Snow gauge his reaction. "Say I were to do this," Finnick said finally. "How do I know that you can deliver?"

"Are you still not convinced that I'm serious about this, Mr. Odair?" Snow crossed his arms.

"About which part?" Finnick said. "About killing her? Or about not giving her to me even after I give you Everdeen?"

The President laughed. "Why don't we say both?"

Finnick was quiet for a long moment, and when he finally spoke, his voice was flat and cold. "I need to know that you can deliver."

"And I need to know that _you _can deliver, Finnick. If you involve any of your Capitol buddies in this and try to double-cross me, I'll slit her throat."

"Don't be a fool." Finnick was calm, too calm. Only Annie, who knew him so very well, could see that. It was the kind of calm that he had when he was incredibly angry or plotting something, or both. "You really think I'd jeopardize her for Everdeen?"

"I don't know," Snow shrugged. "Rumor has it that you two are incredibly good friends, aren't you?"

Finnick let out a harsh, unfeeling laugh. "All the better for her to trust me."

"Very good," Snow grinned. "See, this is the reason I picked you!"

"Why didn't you come to me with this deal sooner?" Finnick asked, his voice carefully callous.

Snow's smile widened, and he gestured at Annie. "Get up, girl."

And Finnick saw why.

"What happened?" Katniss asked as Finnick came up beside her, his hands tightly gripping the rail.

"Nothing," he bit out.

"Liar," she said softly, reaching a tentative hand out and placing it on his arm. "What's wrong? You can tell me."

"Nothing!" he shouted as he turned to her, shaking with anger. "Good gods, Katniss, when the _fuck _will you ever learn? Not everything has to do with you! It's all your fault we're in this mess in the first place!"

"My fault?" she snapped as she retracted her hand. "_My fault_?" Her voice had risen a couple of octaves.

"Yes, your fault, you stupid Mockingjay!" His voice was full bitterness and pent-up anger. "If you hadn't held up those stupid berries of yours, everyone would be alive!"

"You know what?" she screamed, her hands balled into tight fists. "Why do you always do that? You're always blaming other people-"

"Yes, _I _blame people, do I?" he spat. "Clearly nothing is ever your fault, you silly girl-"

"Girl, is it? Now I'm a little girl?"

"Are you surprised? You don't even know what the hell you're doing, and now you're going to tell me that you actually think you're not a girl-"

"Well, you're such a great person in the grand scheme of things, aren't you? Always making the right decisions, always-"

"For your information, Peeta would be fine if it weren't for you!"

"Yeah, and we would all be living in oppression! Is that what you want?"

"Maybe it is!" he roared. "You know what, maybe I wish that we were, because then everyone would be fine, and-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, they'd all be alive, shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! What are you, five?"

"You're certainly acting like it!"

"_I'm _acting that way? Fuck you, Katniss Everdeen!"

"Oh yes, like that'll be a great solution! Why don't you just tell me what went on in there-"

"You're the last person I'd tell-"

"Oh, now I'm the last person, am I? How-"

"Dare I?" He seemed so smug, and she wanted to wipe that arrogant smirk off of his face. "You'll understand this all later, Katniss."

"What?" she snapped. "Understand what?"

"Are you so stupid that you can't even comprehend what I'm-"

"I'm stupid? _I'm stupid?_" Her voice was rising to the edge of hysteria.

"Yes, a lesson in the circle of life for you!" Finnick roared. "You're stupid!"

"Ha ha, I'm not laughing!" she spat.

"I wouldn't expect you to be!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Gods, you're pathetic!"

"_I'm _pathetic?" Katniss practically screamed. "Look at yourself first!"

Finnick let out a cruel laugh. "Look at myself? Look at you, poor little Katniss Everdeen. Doesn't realize what she has until it's too late," he went on in a sing-song voice. He paused, and his voice was a low hiss. "I hate you, Katniss Everdeen." He practically spit it out, as if her name was a curse. Then he turned around and strode back into the hovercraft, slamming the metal door shut behind him.

"What the hell is his problem?" Katniss muttered to herself before she hurried into the hovercraft after him.

_"Where are we going?" Finnick asked, not holding back the curiosity from his voice. _

_Annie let out a laugh, and without a warning, she ran ahead. "Come find out!" she called out, and he could hear the smile in her voice. _

_"Annie!" he shouted as he sprinted up to her, catching up with her effortlessly. "What is it?" _

_"I'm not telling you," she sing-songed, winking at him. _

_"Oh, you're not, are you?" he grinned, and without a warning, he scooped her up in his arms, his hands around the back of her neck and the crook of her legs. _

_"Finnick!" she shouted in alarm, her eyes wide even as she laughed. "What are you doing?" _

_"Carrying you," he winked at her. "What does it look like I'm doing?" _

_"Put me down!" she kicked her legs. "I'm capable of walking, you know." _

_"Not until you tell me where we're going__.__" __H__is lips twisted into a smile. _

_"That would defeat the whole purpose of it being a surprise," she said calmly. _

_"Precisely," Finnick's smile widened. _

_Annie rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I thought you loved surprises." _

_"Most of the time," he said before he swung her over his shoulder. _

_"Finnick!" she yelped before she started to laugh and kick her legs against him. "Put me down!" _

_He did so, and she shot him a suspicious look. "What?" he asked innocently. _

_She shook her head, and her smile was so beautiful and happy that it made him ache. "Have you ever been to the ocean at night?" _

_"Is that where we're going?" __H__e r__aised__ his eyebrows._

_"How clever of you," she smirked. _

_"Oh, you know I am__.__" __H__e gave her a lascivious wink. "We could've taken my car, you know." _

_"Yes, but that would defeat the whole purpose of a midnight stroll, wouldn't it?" _

_"Actually, it's two o'clock, not midnight," he pointed out. _

_"Do you really have to make all these interruptions?" she turned to him, rolling her eyes. _

_"Yes," he smiled. "It's so funny seeing you get worked up." _

_"Funny?" __S__he r__aised__ her eyebrows. _

_"You're just so adorable when you get angry," he smiled. _

_"Oh," she said simply. She was very quiet, and all that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps against the pavement as they made their way to the beach. He was about to open his mouth and ask her if he'd said the wrong thing when she reached out and gripped his hand. "We're here," she said, and she sounded a little breathless. _

_They stood on the top of the steps that led to the beach, the waves crashing loudly in the distance, the stars dancing in the sky high above them. Things are different during the day and during the night. Some things go from plain to beautiful, from beautiful to ugly, from this to that. Finnick had grown up on boats his entire life, but he so rarely came here nowadays, not after his mother's death__,__ and he'd let the Capitol eat him up. _

_The ocean at night was beautiful, and he turned to Annie, a smile of wonder on his face. _

_This __wa__s the part where she __had to __resist the urge to say "I-told-you-so", and so she did. _

"What happened?" Johanna asked in a quiet voice as the door opened and a haggard-looking Annie came in.

Annie shook her head as she made her way over to Peeta's sleeping form. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," Johanna said.

Annie spun her head to the other woman. "Wait, what are you doing up? You should be resting."

Johanna let out a harsh laugh as she walked over to the other side of Peeta's bed. "I should be saying the same for you."

Annie gave her a small smile and reached her hands out to squeeze Johanna's. "It's not like we're actually going to."

And they weren't. What kind of Victors would they be if they did that? Pathetic, that's what. They weren't going to rest and let themselves be taken by surprise. No, they were going to stay awake and alert until the time came and what had to be done was done.

"Did you see Finnick?" Johanna asked, a question so sudden that it almost caught Annie off-guard.

"What?" she heard herself asking.

"Finnick." Johanna murmured. "Did you see him? Is that why you were so weird when you came in?"

Annie let out a harsh, sad laugh, and her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke. "Yes. Yes, I did." There was a short pause, and then, "He's coming for us."

Finnick kept on walking restlessly in circles, rapidly clicking and unclicking the pen in his hand. Think, think, think. What was he going to do? To do or not to do?

"Can you stop moving like that? It's making me dizzy," Katniss said in a soft voice as she sat on the cold counter.

"I'm thinking," he snapped irritably. "Like I said earlier, not everything revolves around little Miss Katniss Everd-"

"Everything is about me, I know," she finished.

"Good," he said, stopping his circle of movement for a moment. "So you understand that I need to think." He resumed his pacing.

"What happened?" she asked calmly. "Look at me, Finnick."

He didn't look at her. Couldn't look at her. Because if he did, he didn't know what he might do. "Snow said he'll give Annie back," he said quietly.

"Just like that?" Katniss quirked her eyebrows. "That doesn't sound like him at all."

"It's not," Finnick said pointedly, his words slow and deliberate.

"Oh," Katniss said simply, a confused frown on her face. Comprehension spread across her face, and then her eyes widened. "Oh."

"Precisely," Finnick murmured, watching her carefully.

"Who do we get back if you do this?" she asked quietly.

"We get her back," he said in a soft voice. "And Johanna. And Peeta."

"Peeta," Katniss repeated, and she looked a bit subdued. "We get Peeta back?" she asked, louder this time, and her eyes met his, equally haunted and just as still.

"Yeah." He didn't move an inch. "Yeah, we do."

"They'll die anyway if you don't do this, Finnick," she said, her words drawn-out and calculated.

"I know," he replied, and there was a barely imperceptible nod of his head.

"Surprise me when you do," she said - such a silent, muted voice - and then she jumped off of the counter and strode out of the room, leaving Finnick to stand there all alone with only his thoughts and silence as company.

_"What?" Annie blinked, shaking her head as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. _

_"That man is here again," Juba said, a laugh on his lips. _

_"What man?" __S__he frowned as she stared at the fisherman, although she already knew who he was talking about. _

_"There__.__" __H__e pointed at a distant figure who was standing on the dock, watching as their ship came in with the day's haul. _

_Annie laughed. "He's a boy, not a man." _

_"He's no boy, Annie," Juba said. _

_"Well then, what is he? A boy-man?" _

_"A boy-man?" __H__e r__aised__ his eyebrows, smiling. "Is there such a thing?" _

_"Since we happen to not __be __in agreement over this, we can say that he's a..." she paused. _

_"Yes?" Juba gave her a pointed look as he attempted not to grin at her. "A what?" _

_"A guy," she said. "We'll call him a guy. Does that work?" _

_"Fair enough," he shrugged. "Finnick Odair, the guy." _

_She laughed. "You're funny, Juba." _

_"As are you," he winked at her. _

_"Is that Selene I see on the dock next to him?" Annie asked. _

_"Is she?" he frowned, then swung his gaze in that direction and blinked. "When did she get there? I didn't know she was coming today." _

_"It's called a surprise, Juba. Surely you've heard of those." _

_"Of course," he said in a professional voice. _

_"You don't sound very sure to me," Annie commented. "Maybe it's because you're afraid that your girlfriend is going to fall for the charms of Finnick if you don't get this boat there quick__ly__ enough." _

_"Annie!" he exclaimed. "That doesn't exactly help boost my confidence levels, you know." _

_"I'm just teasing you," she laughed. "Come on, anyone can see that Selene only has eyes for you." _

_"Is it really that obvious?" Juba asked, and there was such hope in his voice. _

_She nodded truthfully. "You really can't tell?" _

_"Some things are too good to be true," he sighed as he ran a hand through his messy curls. _

_"That's true as well," Annie conceded. _

_He groaned. "Annie, you're supposed to reassure me and tell me that I'm wrong." _

_"Better now than later__.__" __S__he gave him a small smile. _

_Juba was silent for a few seconds, and they stood there as the ship slowly made its way back to the dock, both pairs of hands over the edge of the railing, the two of them leaning over and looking down at the shining water of the ocean that reflected the bright light of the sun. Then he said, rather abruptly, "Can I ask you a question?" _

_"What is it?" she asked, watching the waves lap up at the ship's side. _

_"What's up with you and Finnick?" he asked. _

_"Nothing__.__" __S__he let out a breath. "It's nothing." _

_"You two used to be inseparable," Juba frowned. _

_"I believe 'used to' is the key term here," Annie replied. _

_Juba let out an amused laugh. "You guys are crazy." _

_"What?" __S__he turned to him. "How?" _

_"Have you told him how you feel?" Juba asked instead of answering her question. _

_"Why should I?" she sighed, and it sounded like such a tired and weary sound. "So that I can be__ just__ another screaming fan who throws herself at him?" _

_"Maybe," Juba said. "Or maybe he'll stop being such a stupid asshole and realize that you're special." _

_"Ha ha," she said wryly. "Stop trying to make me feel better." _

_"Why?" he teased. "Do I sound like a grandmother now?" _

_"Actually," Annie laughed. "You remind me of something Mags once said." _

_"Well then, it must be wise, mustn't it?" he winked at her. "Pay attention to my words, Annie Cresta," he droned in a deep and unnatural voice._

_"Stop that!" she laughed again, shaking her head. "Really, Juba. What are we going to do with you?" _

_"I don't know," he shrugged. "What are we going to do with me?" _

_"Send you off with Selene, perhaps," Annie mused. _

_He smiled. "Only if you and Finnick stop fighting." _

_"We're not exactly _fighting_," she corrected him. _

_"Is that so?" __H__e knitted his eyebrows __together__. _

_"No. We just agreed we need some time apart. You know those times when you just have to spend time apart and-"_

_"Yes, I know__.__" Juba gave a wave of his hand. "Think for yourself, be your own person, that sort of thing, am I right?" __H__e turned to her. _

_"Like that, but in nicer terms that don't make me sound like such a nasty person," she laughed softly as she smiled at him. _

_"You're a very strange girl, Annie Cresta__.__" __H__e shook his head slightly. "Finnick should realize just how lucky he is." _

They rushed out of the hovercraft the moment that it landed, running a short distance to the Peacekeeper trucks that had been prepared for them by some of their spies.

There was the sound of shouting, and then a whizz of bullets seemed to be coming from everywhere. Katniss turned to Finnick, about to say something, but she didn't get the chance to say it.

"Get down!" Finnick roared over the din as bullets came flying in their direction. They had reached the line of trucks now, and were busy trying to get into the first one that they spotted, but there was already fighting going on and they weren't even halfway to the hospital yet.

"You're still protecting me now?" Katniss quirked her eyebrows, but her voice was shaky.

He rose a single brow in return. "You're no use to me dead, Everdeen."

She gave a harsh laugh. "Better dead than alive, though, isn't that the truth?"

"Get in the truck without the others," he commanded, giving her no definite response.

Katniss did so without question, still trusting him, even now. "Finnick?" she asked as she slammed the door to the passenger side shut.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently as he turned the key and the truck came to life.

"I'm trusting you, you know," she said quietly.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Finnick said as he sped off.

"I shouldn't, should I?" She let out an empty laugh. "But I do."

"Well, don't," he snapped. "You better learn to do that fast, Girl on Fire."

"I'm trusting you to bring him home," Katniss said softly, and she didn't have to say who 'him' was - they both knew. "Can you do that for me, Finnick?"

"I'll do what I can," Finnick replied in a tight voice, not once taking his eyes off of the road.

"Do you think Snow will keep his word?" Katniss wondered out loud.

"Who knows?" Finnick shrugged. "The important thing is that we get them back."

"Yeah," Katniss whispered. "I know."

_"Here they are!" Selene laughed as she ran forward, turning from Finnick so quickly that it was as though she had forgotten he was there. _

_Juba caught her in his arms as he ran towards her, and then her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms thrown __around__ his neck, and then he was twirling her in small circles, and she was letting out happy shrieks and laughs before they stopped and their lips met, the two of the murmuring to each other and smiling. _

_Annie laughed at the sight of this. To think that Juba had been worried about Selene's affection for him just ten minutes ago - it didn't seem believable now. _

_"Hey!" Finnick called as he walked towards her, a huge grin on his face. _

_She gave him an acknowledging nod, and then they were a few feet apart. "What're you doing here?" _

_"To see you," he laughed. "Why else?"_

_"So it wasn't because you spotted some random girl that you thought might be a fun-" _

_"You mean Selene?" Fin__n__ick let out a laugh as he r__aised__ a single brow. "Annie, contrary to popular belief, I can be friends with women and have it be platonic, you know." _

_"Me being the primary example," she winked at him. _

_"Exactly," he winked back at her, a grin on his face._

_"So you're just here because you want to be?" she asked, not letting him off that easy. _

_He nodded in response, and his voice was teasing. "What would the world be without you as a constant fixture of annoyance in my life? __You know I can't-" _

_"Really?" Annie raised her eyebrows__. _

_"Really." he smiled. "I miss you, you know." _

_'Miss you.' Not 'missed you'. She couldn't help the grin that broke across her face. "Why, Finnick Odair. I wouldn't have pegged you as the type to miss people." She quirked her eyebrows. _

_Finnick crossed his arms. "Oh, you flatter yourself too much, my friend. The only thing I miss about you is that terrible driving of yours. Do you remember when you-" _

_"Shut up," she laughed, and then the distance closed between them, and her head was buried in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. _

_"I really, really missed you," he murmured into her hair. "And you smell like seawater and ropes, by the way." _

_Annie didn't pull back, and said into his t-shirt, "You smell like ice cream." _

_"I didn't say that it was a bad thing, you know." He pulled back, his eyes dancing with unuttered laughter. "Do you want to go get some?" _

_She smiled at him. "Why not?" she shrugged, and turned to Juba and Selene, who were busy holding hands and whispering affectionate nothings to each other and laughing. "Do you guys want to come get some ice cream with us?" _

_"Ice cream?" Juba r__aised__ his eyebrows as he turned to Selene. "What do you say?" _

_"We never have it, do we?" she let out a whimsical sigh. "Sure," she smiled at them. _

_Finnick grinned and held out his hand. Annie laughed, and then she looped their elbows together, and the four of them walked off of the dock, laughing and happy, completely unaware of the misfortune that would soon befall Finnick Odair. _

"How long ago did you inject yourself?" Annie murmured quietly as she pushed the hair out of Peeta's face although she already knew.

"It's been two weeks," Johanna answered absently before she whipped her head up and gave her friend a tired smile. "Why?"

"They'll come for you soon," Annie sighed as they both gazed at Peeta, who was murmuring in his sleep.

"Do you think he'll wake up soon?" Johanna nodded at the rise and fall of Peeta's body.

"Oh, he will," Annie let out a breath. "It's just a matter of when."

"You said Finnick's coming for us?" Johanna asked suddenly, as though she had just realized something.

"He is," Annie said matter-of-factly.

"That means he's coming soon." Johanna closed her eyes. "And if he's coming for us, then they're going to come for us even sooner than we thought, Annie."

"Peeta better wake up before then," Annie replied.

"So how do you propose we wake him up?" Johanna inquired. "You want me to slap him?"

Annie raised her eyebrows. "While I'd usually be objected to you doing this to an unconscious person, time isn't really on our side, so do what you will."

Johanna let out a tired laugh before she began to shake Peeta, to slap him and poke him and hit him all over and shout in his ear, to dump water over him and rummage through the drawers with Annie for some doses of SFEA.

"What are you guys doing?" a hoarse voice asked them.

"Peeta!" The relief was evident in Johanna's voice as Annie smiled at him. "You're awake!"

"Yes, after all of your slapping and poking and hitting, not to mention the shouting and water-pouring." He gave them a weak smile as he attempted to sit up.

"Slow down," Annie said as she rushed to him. "You need to stay put for a few minutes."

"What, like I do every time I wake up?" he coughed.

"Well, you're not awake for very long then, are you?" Johanna queried as she walked towards him.

"Only because it's really depressing to see you two," Peeta replied, grimacing as he attempted once more to sit up.

"Don't you ever listen?" Annie snapped as her eyes glowered dangerously at him. "Don't move for a couple of minutes."

He laughed, but winced as he did so. "It hurts all over."

"It's those chemicals they gave you," Johanna swore under her breath.

"And you chose now to wake me up?" He raised his eyebrows at them as they hovered over him, twin looks of concern on their faces.

"Finnick's coming for us," Annie murmured softly. "He's coming, and the Capitol knows, and that means that they're going to come for all three of us soon. Would you rather be asleep when they come for you?"

Peeta frowned. "They're going to kill us, you mean?"

"Not yet." Annie shook her head. She exchanged a quick glance with Johanna, who shook her head. No. They had already agreed on this, that they wouldn't tell Peeta what it was that Finnick planned to do. Better to have him ignorant of it than to know and be even more worried about Katniss than he already was. "But they will soon enough."

They pressed their heads together, making it so that the security camera in the room couldn't see what it was that they were saying to Peeta or what he was saying to them. "We need to be ready," he mouthed silently at them.

"We know," they mouthed back, and then drew back.

"You can try getting up now," Annie said in a soft voice.

It was no use. He was too weak - all those drugs and chemicals in his system, doing gods know what to him - who knew if he would be able to move when the time came? "I feel like I'm made of jelly," Peeta frowned.

"All over?" Johanna frowned in concern, worry flashing across her face.

"Everywhere but my face." He let out a sigh. "It hurts all over, and I-" he stopped.

"What?" Annie murmured. "What is it?"

"I sound incredibly childish right now," he sighed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lover Boy," Johanna snapped, now very much annoyed. "You got injected with who-knows-what, and you're concerned that you're being whiney since your system is weak?"

He laughed, and then winced, clutching at his ribs. "You never change, Johanna," he said in an affectionate voice. "I'm glad."

"Oh, you should be," Annie smiled, but she exchanged a concerned glance with Johanna as they threw the blanket off of him and took the hospital gown off of him, doing their best to figure out what exactly it was that the Capitol had done to him.

The door burst open, and President Snow came striding in, a huge grin on his face. "Hello, hello, my dears!"

"What do you think you're doing here?" Johanna snarled.

"You know exactly why I'm here," Snow laughed as the Peacekeepers filed into the room after him.

"So is that what you're going to do?" Johanna spit out. "Come take us away and murder us one by one? You're a coward."

He rose his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming. "A coward, am I?" he asked in a soft voice. "Very well, Johanna. You get your wish. Guards!" he shouted as he turned his head. "Get them all. We're leaving."

"Don't move," Annie said quietly out of the corner of her mouth, so hushed that only Peeta could hear her. She sat on the end of the bed, crossing her legs as the Peacekeepers came and began to wheel the bed rather roughly out of the room.

"You see, my dear, I think you'll enjoy this," the President was saying as two of the robed Peacekeepers grabbed Johanna, who was still struggling. "We're going to rush the process of things, and then your friends will get to watch you die. Slowly. Painfully."

"You think I care?" Johanna spat in the face of the Peacekeeper on her right, who proceeded to slap her (not that this would deter Johanna).

"Oh, you will," Snow laughed. "You do, Johanna. I was going to trade you for Katniss Everdeen, but now it seems that I'll have to give you back to your friend Finnick dead, and it'll all be your fault." He let out a dramatic sigh. "Isn't that just so terribly tragic?"

"Very," she snarled as she was dragged away.


	8. Part VIII: Darling, Forgive Me

"_Once we die, what we leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others._"

-Pericles

Part VIII: Darling, Forgive Me

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gale yelled into the audio device clipped onto his shoulder. "Finnick!"

"We'll be going on ahead," the other man replied in a very calm voice. "We'll see you later, all right?"

"Don't you dare take Katniss to Snow! You know what he's going to do to her, don't you?" Gale shouted.

"Of course I know," Finnick snapped. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Yes, I do!" Gale practically screamed into the device. "You're taking Katniss to her death, and you yet expect me to be calling you intelligent?"

"I never said I was doing anything of the sort," Finnick pointed out. "You merely assumed."

"Oh, don't pull that on me," Gale snapped. "I know exactly what you're doing, Finnick. If you bring Katniss there, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Finnick laughed softly at the implied threat. "What are you going to do, Gale? Kill me?"

"Maybe I will," Gale snarled. "I don't know if you're a complete-" The sound of distorted muffling came into his headset. "Hello?" he frowned. "Finnick?"

"It's me," Katniss said into Finnick's audio device. "Gale, talk to me."

"Catnip, are you insane too? What the hell are you two doing? You can't just go ahead without clearance and-"

"Well, we already have, so there's nothing you can do about it." Katniss gave him a sad smile that she knew he couldn't see.

"Catnip," he sighed. "Please, just turn back and-"

"Take care of Peeta for me, will you?" she said. "You two have to take care of each other, okay?"

"Don't talk like that!" Gale shouted. "Catnip, please, I'm begging you-"

"Listen, I have to go," Katniss said in a short voice. "Bye, Gale."

"Catnip-"

"I love you," she said.

"Katniss!" he shouted, but he could tell that she had already disconnected her audio device. "Damn it!"

"That went well, didn't it?" Finnick ran a hand through his hair as he jerked the truck to a stop in front of the hospital.

"Not really." Katniss let out a breath.

"Hey." Finnick reached over and gave her hand a tight squeeze. "It's going to be okay."

She laughed as they got out of the car. "No, it's not, but thank you for telling me that anyway."

Finnick smiled at her as they walked up the path and to the entrance. "I'm sorry, Katniss," he said, and she knew that he meant every word he was saying. "Really, I am. You know, when I told you that-"

"Who is it?" a bored-looking Peacekeeper barked over the screen as they stood in front of the hospital doors.

"Special delivery!" Finnick called out.

"Wha-" The man stopped, and then drew himself up, his eyes widening as he realized who exactly was standing there. "Come on in," he smiled, mood much improved. "Erica!" they could hear him shouting to someone on his right. "Erica, they're here!"

The door slid open, and Finnick had a tight grip on Katniss as they walked into the hospital, his fingers firm and unrelenting. Immediately, a group of Peacekeepers descended upon them. "Follow us!" a short woman who was obviously the head of the group barked out.

They did so wordlessly, Finnick's grip on Katniss growing increasingly tight, his face smooth and impassive, betraying no feeling whatsoever. So Katniss did what she did best in times like these, and she adapted. She was carefully expressionless, and she let her body go almost limp. If not for Finnick practically dragging her, she would have just stood there.

"Hand her over to us," the short woman demanded once they reached the elevator.

"No," Finnick said in a calm, commanding voice. "That wasn't part of my deal with Snow. I give her to him, not anyone else." This wasn't exactly true. It was something that had been implied during the process, but he didn't think the Peacekeeper needed to know this.

The woman made a snarl at him. "Listen, boy. We work for-"

"I am a man of my word," Finnick interrupted her. "Either you bring me to Snow, and I hand-deliver her to him, or we leave. It's as simple as that." No, it wasn't. They couldn't just leave if they wanted to, and he very well knew it.

She opened her mouth to make a nasty retort, then snapped it shut before she spoke. "Very well."

They were put inside the nearby patient elevator, and were quickly surrounded by the Peacekeepers in a protective circle as they found themselves speeding down several floors. There was no talking at all, only complete silence, and then, rather abruptly, the elevator stopped. "Destination reached," the intercom announced cheerfully.

Out the elevator they went, then were led down several corridors, making several turns, through another set of elevators, and climbed down countless and seemingly endless flights of stairs. Katniss didn't dare look to Finnick for reassurance, for his face was blank, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

Finally, they reached a metal door that looked like just another metal door, but in reality, was not, for when it swung open and they were led inside, President Snow stood there in the middle of an empty hallway, waiting. "Finnick Odair," he smiled as though they were old friends. "Finally." However, his grin disappeared once he saw that Katniss was there as well. "What the hell is she doing here?" he hissed at the short woman. "I thought I made it very clear that I was to meet with him _alone_."

"I apologize, sir," the woman said. "He insisted that we bring her along."

"And you can't keep him in check?" Snow snapped as he pulled out his gun. "Very well." Without warning, three shots rang out, and the Peacekeeper fell to the floor, unmoving. "You!" he barked at the Peacekeeper standing nearest to him, a quiet, muscular young man who said nothing. "What's your name?"

"Agrippa, sir," he answered tersely.

"Agrippa, is it?" the President asked. "Congratulations, boy! You've just become first lieutenant!"

"Thank you, sir," Agrippa bowed his head, and the relief in his voice was evident. He'd probably thought that he was going to be shot as well.

"Take the body away," Snow snapped at him, his happy mood ending briefly before he reverted his gaze to Finnick and Katniss. "Well, well," he said, his voice a soft purr. "What do we have here? Finnick Odair, a man of his word. Is she just for me?" he leered at Katniss, and she wanted to reach out and slam him against the wall before she bashed his head in, but she did none of those things. It was mostly her own will stopping her, telling her that if she did anything, Peeta and the others would die, but also because Finnick's grip on her was so tight and bruising, as though he didn't want to be separated from her.

"I've done my part of the deal," Finnick said in a bored voice. "Now give me what I came for."

"Come with me," the President nodded as he began to make his way down the hall.

"What should I do with her?" Finnick asked, not letting go of Katniss and not moving forwards.

"She can come with us, if she'd like," Snow shrugged before he laughed. "I bet she can't wait to see her lover, can she? Just like you can't wait to see yours."

Finnick did not reply, and he gave a slight shake of his head to Katniss, who knew that it meant she should say nothing. So they walked together down the hall, the trio of them with Peacekeepers trailing a safe distance behind, and Finnick closed his eyes, readying himself for whatever it was that he was about to see.

_"Why didn't you come to me with this deal sooner?" Finnick asked, his voice carefully callous. _

_Snow's smile widened, and he gestured at Annie. "Get up, girl." _

_And Finnick saw why. His eyes took in her form, top to bottom, and he stopped short when he saw the swell at her belly. There was a horrifying moment of silence, and when Finnick finally spoke, he could not keep the incredulity out of his voice. "You're-" _

_"Didn't you know, Odair?" the President sounded more amused than anything. "You left dear Annie Cresta pregnant when you left for the seventy-fifth Hunger Games, and you didn't even know." _

_He swallowed. If this had happened under other circumstances, he would have been out buying everyone in sight a drink and staring at Annie, marveling at her in wonder. Now, however, he was filled with horror, because he knew that if he didn't save Annie, the Capitol would turn their child against him. Raise him or her to hate the rebel districts, train them to kill him one day, and that would be the worst fate of all not only for their child but for him as well. _This _was the plan. Not what Beetee had found and said was some kind of injection that turned everyone into fighters against the Rebellion. No. No. No, no, no, no, no. _

_"Have they hurt you, Annie?" Finnick asked, even though he already knew the answer, wondering how much torture she had gone through. _

_"They've tried," she shrugged, seeming unfazed. But her eyes told him the truth of the matter, and Finnick knew that if he didn't get himself under control, right now, he would go insane. _

_"She's been a valuable asset," Snow smiled happily. "You know, when we ran a medical scan on her when she first came in. That's how we found out that she was with child. Can you imagine? So of course she denied it, tried to get rid of them with a syringe." Here the President rolled his eyes as though it were all very dramatic. "But the guards realized what she was trying to do and we moved her up to better facilities so that she could be under constant surveillance. See, aren't we kind, Finnick?" _

"I do love surprises!" President Snow trilled. "It's not every day that you get a pair of rebels walking in, especially when they come in willingly and hand over Katniss Everdeen. Imagine! What are the odds of that?" he turned back to them.

"Slim to none," Finnick gave him a tight smile, humoring the President.

"Don't worry, Katniss," the President said. "We won't kill you just yet. You're going to have a nice, slow, drawn-out torture. Isn't that just lovely?"

"It sounds delightful," she replied in a careful voice. No sarcasm, no biting words. Not until she was sure that those they had come for were safe. Then she would be allowed to lose control. But not right now, not when there was the matter of Peeta and Annie. If she said anything to oppose Snow's views, she knew that she would end up hurting Peeta, which would torment her in the days to come. And Annie. If anything happened to her, Finnick would throttle Katniss himself. This, she knew. And no person with sense was an idiot enough to do incur his anger on them.

Finnick shot her a thankful look, and then the door at the end of the hallway was opened, with President Snow disappearing into the room as they strode in after him.

_"Has anyone touched you?" Finnick got out, ignoring Snow as he spoke to Annie. "I'll kill them myself." _

_"Don't be ridiculous!" the President laughed. "Who do you think we are, a group of rebel brutes? We took very nice care of her once we realized her condition!"_

_"I'll kill you," Finnick snarled. _

_"Such emotion," Snow sighed sadly. "I swear to you, Finnick, we wouldn't jeopardize her! She's our experiment! Besides, we love humane methods, like torture!" _

_"Has anyone touched you?" Finnick repeated his question, his eyes only for Annie. _

_"Are you actually angry because you think she might be bearing someone else's child?" __T__he President let out a snort. "That would defeat the whole purpose of letting her give birth, wouldn't it? You saw what happened to the Peacekeeper who mistreated Johanna! We won't let anything happen to our investments, you know." _

_Annie looked at Finnick, and even as she shook her head, he knew from the small smile that touched her lips that in her mind, she hadn't been hurt, that no one had dared to touch her, that she was alright, despite where she was. "I'm okay, Finnick," she said. "Really." _

_He gave her a nod before he turned to the President, his jaw set. "What do you want me to do?" _

_"Now we're talking!" the President laughed. "Very good, Finnick. Very good. Now, listen to me very closely. You're on a hovercraft right now, aren't you?" _

_"Yes," Finnick said truthfully. _

_"Heading to me right as we speak, are you now?" Snow smiled. "How clever." _

_"Not clever enough," Finnick responded. _

_The President let out another laugh. "You know, I believe I do like you, Finnick." _

_"Then that should make this go quickly, should it not?" Finnick asked. "What would you have me do?" _

_"Get your little friend and come to the destination. No one else, do you understand? No secret back-up plan, nothing, or else I shoot her brains out. Understood?" _

_"I understand," Finnick said. "But how do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?" _

_"The choice is yours, Mr. Odair__.__" Snow gave a shrug of his shoulders. "If you don't come, your knocked up girlfriend dies, doesn't she? Do you want to have that on your hands? The lives of the people who matter most to you?" _

_Finnick's jaw tightened, because everything that the President said was true. What kind of person would allow the blood of their lover and their own child to be on their hands? "Very well," he said. "We'll play this by your terms, but I have a few conditions." _

_"Oh?" __T__he President r__ais__e__d__ his eye__brow__s. "And what would those be, exactly?" _

_"Who is she with?" Finnick asked. _

_"Johanna and Peeta," Annie s__aid__, her eyes never once leaving him. _

_"Don't touch either of them," Finnick said. "Don't touch Annie or our child. Don't inject her, don't inject Johanna, don't inject Peeta with whatever it is that you're giving to him. You will give them back to me, alive and untouched. You will free the rest of the prisoners that you have. Before you take Katniss, you'll let her speak with Peeta for at least one day." _

_The President laughed. "Unfortunately, all of those conditions can't be met, I'm afraid. Johanna has willingly injected herself to save her fellow comrades, and Peeta - well, let's just say that he's not awake too much. As for the rest of the prisoners, that's a little bit too much to ask, don't you think?" _

_"I thought you wanted Katniss Everdeen, didn't you?" Finnick asked. "Surely she's worth all of them. If you televise your torturing of her and she dies, it could collapse the whole Rebellion, could it not?" _

_Snow had an intrigued look in his eyes. "What exactly are you suggesting?" _

_"Strong people often seem weak, and weak people often seem strong. When you have their life in your hands, you can tell what kind of person they really are. And I have no doubt that Everdeen, strong as she may seem, is one of those who will die in shame when you torture her. What better __way __to deteriorate the Rebellion then to show the symbol of the whole movement as a pathetic, worthless scrap of space?" _

_A slow smile spread across Snow's features. "You know, Finnick Odair, I do believe you and I are going to become good friends." _

_"I'm glad," Finnick said nonchalantly, giving the President a wink in response that sealed their agreement. He paused. "How am I going to get past the rest of the rebel soldiers? They're watching this right now." _

_"No, they're not," Snow smiled as he returned the wink. "The Rebels aren't the only ones who know how to turn off a system or who have spies, you know." _

_"What are you saying?" Finnick r__aised__ his right brow._

_"Rest assured that they won't have heard any of this conversation__.__" __T__he President put a finger to his lips. "I suspect they're too busy trying to fix their camera system." _

They walked into the room, and everything seemed to happen so slowly. Annie did not look up from the bed where she was lying, her face emotionless as a Capitol doctor above her cut her stomach open and a tiny form was yanked from her abdomen.

"Annie," Finnick breathed out, but he kept up his pace, not moving towards her any faster or slower. To do so would be to the amusement of President Snow, and he would not do that.

"Finnick," she smiled when she saw him and gave him a weak wave.

"Why is she awake?" Finnick snapped as he turned to the President. "This is a cesarean section, not a regular birthing. Did you give her a sedative?"

"Of course we gave her one," Snow replied irritably as they watched the nurse begin to stitch Annie up. "She's the one who insisted on staying awake."

"Where are Peeta and Johanna?" Finnick asked.

"All in good time," the President sighed as they continued their walk. "All in good time." He paused as he adjusted his headpiece, and then frowned. "However, I believe that you have reneged on our deal, have you not?"

Finnick was carefully expressionless. "I-"

Suddenly, without warning, the nurse stopped mid-stitch, reached into her uniform, and extracted a shiny object. It was a blur of things after that. Finnick had just enough time to scream "No!" before he saw the gun raised as Annie leaped off of the bed and shots rang through the air. But she was slow and sluggish from whatever sedative it was that they had given her, and although the bullets missed their original target point, they drove themselves into her right shoulder, and the nurse promptly walked over and shot her in the stomach.

Finnick let out a guttural shout and threw his knife at the nurse, not waiting for it to lodge itself in the woman's throat before he ran to Annie, never once taking his eyes off of her, not noticing anyone or anything else in the room. "Annie!" he shouted, roughly kicking the nurse out of the way as his fingers curled into hers and he cradled her to him. "What have they done to you?" he whispered in horror as his eyes traveled to down her body.

"It's just a few gunshot wounds, Finnick," she smiled weakly at him. "That's all." She slumped her head back against the cradle of his hand.

Finnick's hands were trembling as the doctor came over and began to hurriedly finish the stitching process.

"You see," Snow said, not moving from where he stood, arms crossed. "I happened to hear a piece of news just now. Your little Rebel friends are in this building, aren't they? You think you could just get them in here without me knowing? You underestimate me, Finnick Odair."

"Shut up," Finnick spat as he took out his gun and aimed it at the President, but a Peacekeeper stood in front of him and took the bullet.

"Aren't they just beautiful children?" Snow smiled from his place, Katniss completely still beside him save the movement of her eyes. "Such cute little fingers and toes," he laughed.

"What?" Finnick blinked.

"Oh, didn't you know, Mr. Odair? You have little twins now, don't you?"

Katniss didn't think she had ever seen Finnick look so surprised in all of the time that she'd known him, but his eyes were wide in astonishment, the widest she'd ever seen.

"What, you couldn't tell from all of the screaming?" Snow laughed. "Are you that foolish, Finnick?"

It was true. The din of screaming came from not one, but two children, who were screaming wildly for their mother.

"I think we're set," Snow smiled. He turned to the Peacekeeper on his left. "Kill everyone but the children and the girl," he indicated Katniss. "We're done here."

"No, we're not," Katniss spat out as some of the Peacekeepers threw off their robes. "You're the one who's done here," she snapped before she flew at him.

There was the sound of shouting as the door burst open, and the noise of screaming and gunfire ensued, knives being thrown here and there, flesh hitting the wall, bodies thumping to the floor. There was a rain of bullets flying speedily through the air, most of which hit fighting bodies, and the only distinction between the rebels and the Capitol was the color of their uniforms.

"Oh, you're going to regret this, little rebels," Snow laughed from his place on the ground before he drew out his gun.

"Tiberius, normally I wouldn't ask anyone this, but get my children out of here!" Finnick shouted over the clanging of weapons and bullets being aimed.

The doctor nodded before he waved a few other trusted spies over. "We need to get the children back to the hovercraft!" he shouted as he gave them instructions. "Can you two stay here? They said that it'll be safer for her if you wait for a while before you move. I can send in Tom to-"

"Do it," Finnick ordered. "And make sure you get that nurse, too. I want to question her."

Tiberius gave him another nod. "Yes, sir."

Finnick paid him no attention, though. His eyes were only for Annie. "Hey," he murmured as he held onto her. "Hold on, okay? I'm going to get us out of here."

"It's fine," she smiled softly. "Just stay with me until the end?"

"Don't talk like that," he said. "Don't. You're going to be fine. It's just a few bullets in your shoulder, nothing to worry about, all right?"

Annie coughed before she let out a weak laugh. "Liar. Annie's going to die. She got shot near the heart. She's going to die."

"Don't talk like that," he hissed as he took out a dose of SFEA and pressed down the plunger against her upper left arm. "Don't, Annie."

She smiled at him, even as the fighting went on around them. Right now, there was no one in the world but them. No one but Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta. "Let's think of names," she said shortly as she drew herself up, very serious-like. "I want to name them."

"All right." Finnick gave her hand a tight squeeze as he carried her to the back of the bed, where they were temporarily safe from the fighting.

"A boy and a girl," she smiled softly, and she looked so, so tired even though the SFEA should have made her more alert. "You have both."

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised by this. "This day just keeps on getting stranger."

Annie let out another laugh. She seemed to be full of those today. However, it quickly disappeared as she frowned. "I didn't even get to hold them," she murmured. "Funny, isn't it?"

"You'll get to very soon," Finnick reassured her, lacing his fingers with hers.

She shook her head before she uttered one word. "Eliot."

"It's a good name from a worthy person." He squeezed her hand. "What about the girl?"

"Well, what do you think?" she asked.

"How about we name her after Mags?" he paused. "But Mags sounds a bit old for a girl, don't you think? Why don't we go with Magnoliana?" he finally said.

"I like that," she smiled. "Eliot and Mags."

"Finnick!" Tom shouted as he found them. "We're here to bring you two back!"

Finnick nodded wordlessly, and he scooped Annie up in his arms as they all made their way through the torrent of fighting. Annie was shouting at him that she could fight, but her weakened shoulder and stomach weren't going to be of any help to them, so he refused. Under other circumstances, if she hadn't been shot, or if it hadn't been critical, he would have let her, because that was who she was, a fighter. But she was his priority right now, and he wasn't going to jeopardize her safety, even if it made her slightly unhappy.

Bodies were strewn all across the floor, both Peacekeeper and Rebel, and there was a loud chorus of bullets and shouting and yells, people wrestling on the floor for control of a weapon, soldiers slammed against the wall, those aiming at the opposite color uniforms and thinking of nothing else. There seemed to be slightly more Rebel soldiers than Peacekeepers in the room, but that didn't make it any easier to get out. Finnick saw that Katniss was no longer here - from the looks of it, she'd probably gone in pursuit of President Snow or Peeta, perhaps even both of them. A female voice came over the intercom as red lights began to flash, "Security breach. Warning, security breach. Alert, security breach."

They moved as quickly as they could, but to Finnick, it was such a maddeningly sluggish, irritatingly slow pace, and try as he might to break ahead of the group, he didn't get very far. By the time they made their way out of the room, it seemed as though hours had passed, even though he knew that it was really only minutes. The red lights were still flashing, and the female voice was still going on and on about the security breach.

Bullets were flying through the hall from all directions, and they made a mad dash for it, people in their group falling left and right, backwards and forwards as they ran, but even as more than half of their group was gunned down or became engaged in a fight, Finnick didn't stop, not once, didn't look anywhere except for in front of him, focused only on getting Annie out of here and to safety. "Gale!" he shouted into his headpiece as he adjusted it and reached the end of the hall simultaneously.

"I'm right here!" came the familiar shout over his headset. "What is it?"

"Tell Haymitch that I need him to send someone to come pick us up right away! Even if I run, she's not going to make it without medical attention!" Finnick shouted as they burst through a door that led to the emergency staircase. "I need you to make sure we have control of the elevator and the video feeds for at least twenty minutes, and then have a room ready for us to go into!" He turned to Tom, who had been running alongside him this entire time. "Are there any shortcuts to the elevators? We don't have time!"

"I know where a few of them are!" Agrippa shouted from behind him. "I can take you to one!"

"Hurry!" Finnick turned around and they sped back out of the door and to another room that held a short flight of stairs and yet another door at the end.

"All right, stay with me!" Gale shouted into his headset. "Where are you?"

"Where are we?" Finnick yelled at Agrippa.

"We'll be on the elevators shortly!" the man shouted as they got to the top of the stairs and yanked the door open. "Number fifty-nine!"

"Did you hear that?" Finnick asked Gale.

"No!" Gale answered. "What did he say?" After Finnick repeated what Agrippa had told him, Gale was silent for a few moments before he responded. "Head to the fiftieth floor!" He commanded. "Room 5B!"

"Got it!" Finnick shouted before he repeated the information to Agrippa and they made their way to the elevator, a white light that stood out in the dark and flashing red.

"You know, you could have told me a lot sooner!" Gale yelled.

"About what?" Finnick inquired as they got into the elevator and it zoomed up to the fiftieth floor.

"About what you and Katniss were planning," Gale said. "You can trust me, you know."

"They're always listening," Finnick responded. "We had to make sure that even you were convinced."

"Well, if you wanted to have me pissed off and worried, you succeeded," Gale laughed. "I must say, you're very good at pretending, Finnick. I never-"

The elevator doors slid open as they reached the forty-third floor, and by previous agreement, half of the men filed out, meeting a rain of gunfire and shouts and those damn flashing red lights. They were the distraction, those who would fight so that the rest of them could get out of here.

Agrippa quickly shut the elevator doors as they sped upwards, reaching the fiftieth floor a few moments later. "Follow me!" he shouted as they burst out onto the relatively empty floor.

There were no doctors or patients, no Peacekeepers standing by to shoot at them. It seemed too perfect, though. There must be some sort of trap lying in wait for them.

"I'll stay here and distract whoever is here with the rest of the men!" Tom whispered.

"You're going to get yourself killed," Agrippa hissed at him.

"You need to get her out of here, don't you?" Tom indicated his head at Annie, who lay smiling in Finnick's arms. "Go!"

They ran down the hall, hearing the sound of gunshots being fired as Tom laughed and shouted at whoever was there to come and get him and his men. They burst into 5B, Agrippa quickly shoving the bed and whatever he could find against the door.

"We're here," Finnick said into his headset.

"So are we," came a soft voice from beside the window.

Agrippa raised his gun before he realized who it was, and a smile grew across Finnick's face. "Katniss? Johanna? When did you guys get here?"

"A couple of minutes ago." Katniss had a weary smile on her face as she looked up from gazing at Peeta, who lay in Johanna's arms. She was holding him as though he weighed nothing.

"Did you get Snow?" Finnick asked her.

Katniss shook her head as she frowned. "No, I didn't. His soldiers came and saved him, and I chased after him, but then he told me where Peeta was, and I..." she trailed off.

"Don't take be too hard on yourself," Johanna said in the kindest voice that Katniss had ever heard her use. "Finnick would have done the same for Annie, wouldn't he?"

Finnick nodded in response. "Do you think we-"

Annie let out a whimper then, cutting off his response as his focus swerved to her. "Finnick," she said in a soft voice. "Finnick."

"I'm here," he whispered. "I'm here. What's wrong?"

Her eyes fluttered and she gave him a sad smile. "It's now, Finnick."

"No." He shook his head as he sat down on the floor. "No, don't talk like that."

She coughed weakly, and he placed two fingers to her neck. Her pulse was rapidly decreasing, and it made his heart pound loudly in his body. "Time to go," she murmured.

"Annie," he said in a soft voice. "Don't fall asleep on me, okay? Just stay awake for a little while longer, and then we'll go home and you can sleep as long as you'd like. How does that sound?"

"Don't leave me," she whispered, squeezing his fingers tightly.

"I'll never leave you," Finnick vowed as he placed her head in his lap.

She smiled and closed her eyes. "Thank you..."

His fingers felt on her neck once more for a pulse, but it was even slower now, if that was even possible. "Annie!" he shouted. "Annie, damn it, don't you dare die on me now!"

"Do you remember the Dioscuri, Finnick?" she whispered as she cracked her eyes open.

"I never forgot," he told her. "I always looked for them, you know."

That made her smile. "I'm sorry."

"What? What for?" Finnick shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Annie."

"I tried to find them, but the room they put us in didn't have a window," she said.

"Don't be silly." He tenderly brushed a few hairs out of her face. "When we get back to the District, we'll go to the beach every night and find them. How does that sound?"

"Unreal," Annie laughed. "But I like it."

He let out a strange sound halfway between a strangled sob and an amused laugh. "Annie," he smiled at her.

"I really am sorry, you know," she murmured.

"Annie-" he began.

She raised her left hand and put a finger to his lips. "Listen," she whispered. When he didn't say anything, she went on. "I'm sorry for letting you fall in love me the way I did." There was a pained expression on his face, but he said nothing, merely listened. "No, not like that," she added hastily. "I just - maybe if I'd never done that, we wouldn't be here. You'd be safe. Does that make sense? But I'm not sorry for loving you, Finnick."

He smiled at her. "We would've found each other anyway."

Annie placed her hand in his hand, and then she frowned. "I never noticed," she murmured.

"What?" he whispered. "What is it?"

"Your hair looks so weird with the red lights," she said, and then her eyes widened as she let out an involuntary whimper of pain.

"Annie?" His voice grew much louder now. "Annie?"

They could hear a loud crashing noise that came from somewhere a few rooms away, and then Gale shouted over the headpiece, "Now! Get into the room at the end of the hall! Go!"

Agrippa had already removed whatever he had stacked against the door while this exchange went on, and he ushered them out of the room, but Finnick didn't move, instead worrying over Annie, murmuring the words, "No, no, no," over and over again.

"You'll take care of them, won't you?" Annie asked softly before her eyes fluttered and shut. "I know you will."

She didn't have to say whom she was talking about, for he already knew. "We're going to raise them together," he choked out.

"Kill the President for me, will you?" she requested, her eyes opening momentarily before they closed once more.

"We'll kill him together," Finnick vowed. "Annie, you have to stay with me, remember?"

She gave him a smile, and her eyes opened one last time. "I love you, you know. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes," he whispered. "Yes, I do, and I-"

"Finnick!" Katniss screamed as she came bursting in through the door. "Finnick, we have to leave, _now_!"

"Go," Annie urged him, her eyelids fluttering for a moment before her eyes widened. "Go!"

"Not without you," he said fiercely. "You know that. Annie, I-"

"Finnick!" Katniss screamed once more. "Finnick!"

He stood up, Annie in his arms, and the three of them ran, down the hall and into the last room amidst all of the shouting and fighting. When they burst into the room, Finnick saw that a small hovercraft had managed to crash itself through the hospital windows, which was evident by the glass that had flown all over the place. They kept on running, over the broken glass, across the platform, and finally, onto the waiting hovercraft.

"Annie?" Finnick asked as they sped off towards the main hovercraft. She didn't respond. "Annie?" he shook her, even though he knew that he shouldn't be. "Annie!" he shouted.

She looked like she was asleep, like they had just arrived in the hospital and the doctors were just about to perform surgery on her. Like he could just shake her and whisper in her ear, and then she would roll over and smile at him. But Johanna, who sat there, watching quietly, and Katniss, who was watching the scene before her with growing horror, knew.

Finnick didn't, though. Even if some part of him knew, he refused to believe it. He placed his fingers to her neck, but there was no pulse. No pulse, and so he convinced himself that it was just his imagination. He placed his ear to her heart, to the heart that he used to listen to, and there was no beat. Nothing, nothing at all. "No," he murmured. "No." He extracted his knife from his pocket, pressing it close to (but not directly against) her lips. Nothing clouded the surface, which meant that it was all for naught. "No." He shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No."

"Finnick-" Johanna began, but he didn't let anyone talk to him, couldn't seem to hear them.

"Annie," he pleaded as the knife clattered to the floor. "Annie, you promised me, you have to stay with me, you have to wake up. Annie?" There was no response, but he went on. "Annie, please. I'm begging you. I'll beg you for the rest of my life if you want me to. Just don't leave me. Annie?"

"She's gone," Katniss managed to get out. And they all knew it, too.

Even Finnick knew, but he refused to acknowledge this truth. "You shut your mouth," he snarled at her before he turned back to Annie's limp form in his arms. "Annie? Annie, come on, wake up. It's not funny anymore." Her eyes were still wide open, still looking at him, caught in an immortal stare. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." He was speaking quickly. "Annie!" he shouted. "Annie!"

And he knew. He finally knew. He was never going to get her back. This - all of it - what had it come to? To the incredibly obvious fact that everyone but the one that he wanted was alive? What kind of cruel twist was this? "No." He shook his head as he buried his face into her neck. "No!" Finnick let out a guttural cry of despair as he hugged her to him, and even though some of them were used to Finnick crying over Annie, he usually did it in his sleep. He had been emotionless for so long now. Fake smiles, expressionless face, flat voice - that was what everyone had been used to for the past couple of months. This display now, of him in plain daylight, his body shaking with sobs as he held her closer and closer to him, as he inhaled her scent, as he murmured, "No," over and over and over again - it was disturbing and unlike him and so very, very human.

They didn't move towards him, didn't do anything but watch in transfixed horror. Even as they landed in the main hovercraft, they stared. Johanna and Peeta and the wounded were rushed out, but Finnick didn't move. No one went to him and told him to move, for what kind of person interrupts a griever? An insane person, obviously.

Even after hours had passed and their attack was done, even as Katniss came in to get him to come out as they took off, Finnick hadn't stopped. He was unaware of the world around him, refused to come back, refused to do anything but shout and cry.

Today should have been a victory. It was a day and a triumph that would be talked about for years and years to come, and yet, what was it but a tragedy and living horror to Finnick Odair? It meant that he had lost nearly everything that he held dear to him, and so Katniss sat there and watched him, watched as her friend and fellow fighter sobbed and yelled and shook with grief.

Somewhere in the Capitol, President Snow smiled. His task today, he knew, had been finished, and he had done so very well.


End file.
